Novak Djokovic will kick off his campaign at Wimbledon on Monday with the entire top half of the men’s draw playing their first round matches.
Defending champion Djokovic is the top seed for the fourth time in a row. This year he is seeking to win his seventh Wimbledon title. Something which has only ever been achieved by Pete Sampras and Roger Federer in the Open Era. He will get his campaign underway against South Korea’s Kwon Soo-Woo who is currently ranked 75th in the world. The Serbian could then have to take on Thanassi Kokkinakis followed by a potentially tricky encounter against compatriot Memoir Kecmanovic.
After winning the first two major events of the season, Rafael Nadal enters Wimbledon with the shot of achieving a Calendar Slam for the first time in his career. In his 14 previous appearances at The All England Club, he has lifted the trophy twice with his most recent triumph being back in 2010. Seeded second and therefore on the other side of the draw to Djokovic, he will play Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the first round. Cerundolo is currently at a career-high of 42nd in the world but has failed to win back-to-back matches at his three previous tournaments. If he wins, Nadal will play either Sam Querrey or Ricardas Berankis in the second round. Former finalist Marin Cilic is a potential fourth round opponent.
Casper Ruud joked during the Miami Masters in March that ‘grass is for golf players.’ Little did he know at the time that he would end up being a top-three seed at Wimbledon following his breakthrough run to the final of the French Open and the subsequent ban of world No.1 Daniil Medvedev due to the Ukraine war. The Norwegian is yet to win a main draw match at SW19 after suffering two straight first round losses. He will be hoping to end the losing streak against Spanish veteran Albert Ramos Vinolas who has only ever won five matches at Wimbledon in his career out of eight appearances.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has had plenty of practice on the grass after playing three tournaments on the surface within the past month, including this week’s Mallorca Open. He begins his Wimbledon bid against Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard who will be playing in a Grand Slam main draw for the first time at the age of 28. Further in the draw, he could play Nick Kyrgios in the third round who he recently lost to in Halle.
Rising star Carlos Alcaraz was ranked 75th in the world when he made his Wimbledon debut 12 months ago. Since then, he has shot up the world rankings following a sensational first half of 2022. The Spaniard is high in confidence despite his inexperience on the surface or the fact he was seen wearing heavy strapping on his arm. Opening up against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, he faces the possibility of playing Fabio Fognini in the second round. Then another Italian, Jannik Sinner, could be a possible fourth round opponent before a potential showdown with Djokovic.
Other players to look out for include Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz who recently produced some of the best tennis of his career to crush Medvedev in the Halle Final. The Pole has already impressed at the tournament by reaching the semi-finals in 2021. Hurkacz opens up against Alejandro Davidovich Forkina. 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini is another title contender who is high in confidence after winning back-to-back grass-court titles in Stuttgart and Halle. The Italian plays Chile’s Christian Garin in the first round.
As for home players, Cameron Norrie is seeded ninth in the draw and will play Pablo Andujar. He is only the third British man to have a top 10 seeding at the tournament over the past 20 years after Tim Henman and Andy Murray. Dan Evans, who is seeded 29th, opens up against Jason Kubler.
Outside threats include Murray who recently reached the final of the Stuttgart Open where he lost in three sets to Berrettini. However, the former world No.1 has recently been hampered by a minor abdominal injury but is hopeful that he will be fit in time. Murray will play James Duckworth and could face John Isner in the last 64.
Australia’s Kyrgios faces Paul Jubb in his opening match. The unpredictable world No.45 can beat the best players in the world if he is in top form. He has beaten a top 10 player 24 times in his career. Like Murray, he has also suffered a minor injury setback after withdrawing from the Mallorca Open due to an abdominal issue.
Other notable first round matches to look out for include Sinner against three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka. Diego Schwartzman, who has never gone beyond the third round at Wimbledon, faces a stern test against Borna Coric. Finally, Lorenzo Musetti’s clash with Taylor Fritz could be a very intriguing one.
At this year’s draw, there will be no ranking points after the ATP decided to remove them in response to the suspension of Russian and Belarussian players. However, this year’s champion will win £2M in prize money.
The draw in detail
Sections and seeds (1-4 is the top half, 5-8 in the bottom)
SECTION 1: N.Djokovic (1), M.Kecmanovic (25), N.Basilashvili (22), R.Opelka (15)
SECTION 2: J.Sinner (10), J.Isner (20), O.Otte (32), C.Alcaraz (5)
SECTION 3: C.Ruud (3), S.Baez (31), F.Tiafoe (23), P.Carreno Busta (16)
SECTION 4: C.Norrie (9), G.Dimitrov (18), T.Paul (30), H.Hurkacz (7)
SECTION 5: M.Berrettini (8), J.Brooksby (29), A.De Minaur (19), D.Schwartzman (12)
SECTION 6: D.Shapovalov (13), R.Bautista Agut (17), F.Krajinovic (26), S.Tsitsipas (4)
SECTION 7: F.Auger-Aliassime (6), D.Evans (28), H.Rune (24), T.Fritz (11)
SECTION 8: M.Cilic (14), B.Van de Zandschulp (21), L.Sonego (27), R.Nadal (2)
Note: 16 players per section with only one progressing to the quarter-finals
Projected matches (based on seedings)
Round 4
Djokovic vs Opelka
Sinner vs Alcaraz
Ruud vs Carreno Busta
Norrie vs Hurkacz
Berrettini vs Schwartzman
Shapovalov vs Tsitsipas
Auger vs Aliassime-Fritz
Cilic vs Nadal
QF
Djokovic vs Alcaraz
Ruud vs Hurkacz
Berrettini vs Tsitsipas
Auger-Aliassime vs Nadal
SF
Djokovic vs Ruud
Tsitsipas vs Nadal
The full draw can be seen HERE.
