London [UK], June 26 (ANI): Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic has landed in defending champion Jannik Sinner’s half in the Wimbledon draw, while Taylor Fritz will get to play Jack Drap in an intriguing first-round clash.
Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion chasing his 25th Grand Slam title, is aiming to break his major title drought, with his last title being the US Open 2023. He could face Sinner, the current world number one, in the semifinals, with French Open champion Alexander Zverev finding a place in the other half, as per the ATP’s official website.
Djokovic, a seventh seed, will start off against Wu Yibing and could play Stefanos Tsitsipas or Hugo Gaston in round two, Arthur Rinderknech in the third round, Andrey Rublev or Brazilian Joao Fonseca in the fourth round, and third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals if he keeps winning.
Sinner outclassed rival and Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the title clash last year and will start his title defence against Miomir Kecmanovic. Given that he keeps winning his matches, he could meet the winner of Nuno Borges and Tristan Boyer in the second round, Ignacio Buse in the third round, and could meet rising Spaniard Rafael Jodar or countryman Luciano Darderi in the fourth round.
Sinner’s seeded quarterfinal opponent is Daniil Medvedev, with the Russian opening his campaign against 2017 finalist Marin Cilic. Sinner holds an edge over Medvedev with a 10-7 record in head-to-head matches and has won the past 10 of their 11 matches.
Zverev’s first-round opponent will be a 21-year-old Belgian, Alexander Blockx, and could meet British wild card Harry Wendelken or Frenchman Valentin Royer in the second round, at the French Open semifinalist Matteo Arnaldi in round three, Jiri Lehecka or Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round and sixth seed Fritz in the quarter-finals.
Fritz dominates Zverev 10-5 in the ATP head-to-head series and has won the past seven matches between them, including their last Wimbledon clash two years back and at Halle this month on a grass court. Fritz will open his campaign against world number four Draper.
Shelton could meet Zverev in the semifinal if the French Open champion makes it that far. Shelton will play Otto Virtanen in the first round and could also face Jakub Mensik or Arthur Fils in the fourth round. Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who starts off against Roman Andres Burruchaga is Shelton’s potential quarterfinal opponent.
In the bottom half, the French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli’s first-round opponent is Mariano Navone and he could meet tougher challenges in the form of De Minaur in the fourth round. Stan Wawrinka, featuring in his last Wimbledon, starts off against 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini
In the top half, third-seeded Auger-Aliassime begins against Alexander Shevchenko and his second round opponets could be Adam Walton or Dino Prizmic. The Canadian could go one-on-one against British Cameron Norrie in the third round, Learner Tien or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the fourth round and then meet the big Djokovic challenge in the quarter-finals.
The 23rd-seeded Jodar will start his campaign against the British wildcard Felix Gill, and 24th seed Fonseca plays Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the opening round. Casper Ruud will play Hubert Hurkacz in another interesting first-round match.
The main draw of the tournament runs from June 29 to July 12. (ANI)
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