Jack Draper will have to be at the top of his game at Wimbledon after being drawn to play sixth seed Taylor Fritz in the first round.
The former world No.4 heads into his home major event having played just one Tour-level event since April due to injury. He is currently playing in Eastbourne, where he is through to the semi-finals. Since playing at Wimbledon last year, Draper has been sidelined by bone bruising in his serving arm before struggling with a knee problem earlier this year.
“I was on a great trajectory last year, being at a career high ranking of four,” Draper said following his quarter-final win at Eastbourne.
“My body stopped me in my tracks, so I wasn’t able to play, and the last year has been really difficult.
“The mental side is really important, but right now, it’s just about coming out each day, being consistent with my practice, trying to get as many matches to get my confidence back to where I need to be, and hopefully rising up their rankings once again.”
Should Draper, who is currently being coached by Andy Murray, pull off an upset, he will face plenty of tests. The same applies to Fritz if he wins. Recently crowned Halle champion Francis Tiafoe is a potential third round opponent, and then the sometimes unpredictable Alexander Bublik lurks in the fourth.
Jannik Sinner is targeting a second consecutive title at Wimbledon after beating nemesis Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s final. The world No.1 has reached the quarter-finals of better at SW19 every year since 2022 and this season he has already won five Masters 1000 titles. Although there are still unanswered questions about his fitness after his implosion at the French Open.
“We did some testing, we tried to understand what happened, we came to a conclusion which is very good. So we worked very much, we changed the work a little bit as well, trying to see how my body reacts in different conditions,” Sinner said earlier this week about his fitness.
“We’ve made some changes in the practice, we made some changes in all other things,” he added.
Sinner plays Miomir Kecmanović in the first round, who has reached the third round of the tournament three times before. Ignacio Buse is a potential third round opponent and then an intriguing showdown could occur in the last 16 with rising star Rafael Jodar being a potential opponent, as well as 14th seed Luciano Darderi.
Jannik Sinner’s potential path to glory
R1 – Kecmanovic
R2 – Borges / Boyer
R3 – Brooksby / Buse / Nava
R16 – Jodar / Darderi
QF – Medvedev / Ruud / Paul
SF – Djokovic / Aliassime
F – Zverev / Shelton / Fritz
After ending his major drought at the French Open, Alexander Zverev will be hoping to end his disappointing record at Wimbledon. The German has yet to reach the quarter-final stage and has yet to win an ATP title on grass. His first test will be against Alexander Blockx, who reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters but then had to withdraw from the French Open due to a training accident.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has a slightly better record at the tournament but in recent years he has been unable to get any success. Since reaching the last eight in 2021, he has failed to win back-to-back matches at the tournament. Seeded third in the draw, he plays Alexander Shevchenko. Cameron Norrie, Alejandro Fokina Davidovich and Learner Tien are in his section of the draw.
Novak Djokovic could face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, who he has previously beaten in two Grand Slam finals. The 24-time major winner starts against China’s Wu Yibing and is making his 21st appearance in the tournament.
Djokovic’s potential path
R1 – Yibing Wu
R2 – Tsitsipas / Gaston
R3 – Rinderknech / Trungelliti / Damm
R16 – Rublev / Fonseca
QF – Auger Aliassime / Tien / Norrie / Davidovich Fokina
SF – Sinner / Medvedev / Ruud / Jodar
F – Zverev
There are plenty of intriguing first round matches to look out for. Casper Ruud will play Hubert Hurkacz, who was a semi-finalist five years ago. Daniil Medvedev could face a stern test against Marin Cilic. Joao Fonseca faces the highly experienced and soon-to-be retire Roberto Bautista Agut. Finally, Stan Wawrinka marks his final appearance at Wimbledon with a showdown against Matteo Berrettini.
The full draw can be viewed HERE. The tournament will begin on Monday.
