Wimbledon draw sets Novak Djokovic on quarter-final collision course with Nick Kyrgios
Pedro Cachin of Argentina will be Novak Djokovic’s first opponent in his pursuit of a record-tying eighth Wimbledon victory, with a potential rematch with Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals possibly written in the stars.
If Kyrgios does not advance to the last eight, Djokovic may play Andrey Rublev or Felix Auger-Aliassime, and he is expected to play either Jannik Sinner or Casper Ruud in the semifinals, both players he defeated in the French Open final earlier this month.
Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed and world No 1, has never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon in his two outings, but after winning at Queen’s Club last week, he is gaining experience and confidence on grass.
Alcaraz begins the tournament against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, although he faces a difficult route to the finals with the possibility of facing Alex de Minaur in a rematch of the Queen’s final in the fourth round and Holger Rune, the world’s sixth-ranked player, in the quarterfinals.
The men’s first round ALSO pits fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas against former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, with the victor perhaps going on to play two-time champion Andy Murray, who faces wild card Ryan Peniston in an all-British opener.
Another British wildcard George Loffhagen is the drawn opponent for sixth seed Holger Rune with the victor going on to face either Wimbledon debutant Matteo Arnaldi or Spanish veteran Roberto Carballes Baena.
Rune could face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a renewal of spicy rivalry in the third round should the Spaniard dispatch French Wildcard Arthur Fils.
American No 2 Frances Tiafoe lurks in Rune’s quarter and might be out to deny the Dane passage to the last eight but first needs to see off China’s Yibing Wu.
The 12th seed and British No 1 Cameron Norrie opens his campaign against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic who has come through qualifying.
Norrie might be forgiven for having one eye on the progress of potential third round opponent Seb Korda who is a real threat on grass.
Eighth seed Sinner could meet Argentine opponents in the first two rounds as he starts against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and could face Diego Schwartzman in the second round provided he can get past Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
The 27th seed and British No 2 Dan Evans opens his campaign against Frenchman Quentin Halys Daniel Evans.
American No 1 Taylor Fritz is slated to meet Japan’s 24th seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round but he will need to get beyond in-form German Yannick Hanfmann to start.
