Novak Djokovic’s path still tough as Carlos Alcaraz win big with Wimbledon seeding carnage
Thirteen men’s seeds fell on the opening two days at Wimbledon 2025 and it means the paths of some of the top players will be slightly easier.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are the three big favourites to win this year’s Grand Slam with Sinner the reigning world No 1, Alcaraz having won the last two titles at SW19, while Djokovic is a seven-time Wimbledon winner.
So which player’s draw opened up after several big names exited in the first round?
Alcaraz appears to be the biggest beneficiary as a few seeds in his half of the draw have already lost at Wimbledon.
Carlos Alcaraz’s Path
As the second seed, the defending champion headlines the bottom half of the draw and he was due to face eighth seed Holger Rune in the quarter-final, but the Dane lost his opener against qualifier Nicolas Jarry.
Alcaraz, though, will likely first have to negotiate 14th seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round before he is projected to meet either 12th seed Francis Tiafoe or 23rd seed Jiri Lehecka, who are the highest-ranked players in their bracket after Rune’s exit.
But Alcaraz’s biggest “win” was third seed Alexander Zverev’s five-set defeat at the hands of Arthur Rinderknech as the pair were set to meet in the semi-final. Fifth seed Taylor Fritz is now set to meet the Spaniard in the last four.
Of course, he can still face Sinner, Djokovic or Jack Draper in the final.
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Jannik Sinner’s Path
The world No 1 breezed past fellow Italian Luca Nardi in the first round and the first seed from his bracket to fall was Denis Shapovalov, who lost against Mariano Navone, as he was due to face the 27th seed in the third round.
The other big name to exit was Lorenzo Musetti – who was beaten by Nikos Basilashvili – and Sinner was due to meet the seventh seed in the quarter-final. Sinner is now projected to meet the 10th seed Ben Shelton.
But the road looks difficult after that as he will take on either Djokovic or Draper in the semi-final before a possible showdown with Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic’s Path
Djokovic – and Draper for that matter – has not had much “luck” so far with the seeded carnage as he is still projected to face all the big names.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner remains on course to meet 11th seed Alex de Minaur in the fourth round, Draper in the quarter-final, Sinner in the semi-final and Alcaraz in the final.
Draper, meanwhile, is projected to meet 15th seed Jakub Mensik in the last 16, Djokovic in the last eight, Sinner in the last four and Alcaraz in the final.
