Wimbledon men’s singles draw: 5 takeaways – ft. Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz

Oli Dickson Jefford
Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner v Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner v Carlos Alcaraz comparison

The Wimbledon men’s singles draw has been made, and all eyes are now on what looks set to be an enthralling fortnight.

Here, we look at five key takeaways from the men’s draw.

Perfect draw for Djokovic

Novak Djokovic looks all but set to play Wimbledon this fortnight – and he has been handed a perfect pathway to ease his way into the tournament.

The second seed starts his campaign against unheralded qualifier Vit Kopriva and with 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry and out-of-form 15th seed Holger Rune his projected third and fourth round opponents, the Serb is a huge favourite to progress.

It is hard to see who can push the seven-time winner before the last eight, where he could face a stern test from Hubert Hurkacz or Alex de Minaur.

But Djokovic would be backed against either, and he is a favourite to reach a tenth SW19 final.

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Sinner thrown in the deep end

This is the first major where world No 1 Jannik Sinner is the top seed, and his initial round one draw against Yannick Hanfmann is a kind one.

However, there will be no coasting through his potential second round match, likely to be against fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini.

A former Wimbledon finalist and a multiple tournament winner on grass, this will be a huge early test of Sinner’s title credentials.

His run to the last four post-Berrettini looks pretty comfortable, but he’ll need to get past a hugely dangerous dark horse first.

Alcaraz in Sinner’s half

After failing to defend his Queen’s title, Carlos Alcaraz dropped down to world No 3 in the draw – meaning the defending champion would find himself in the same half as Djokovic or Sinner.

And he is now projected to face Sinner – the defining rival of his career to date – in the last four, just weeks after they met in the semi-final of the French Open.

The Spaniard has a good opener against Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal and two out-of-form seeds – No 29 Frances Tiafoe, and No 16 Ugo Humbert – are his projected opponents later on, making this a good initial section for him.

However, that potential semi-final against Sinner could be a stumbling block in his title defence.

Open Zverev quarter

Fourth seed at Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev has been in strong form this season – but has only twice made it to the second week at the All England Club.

He is undoubtedly susceptible here and with 28th seed Jack Draper his projected third round opponent, it would be no surprise to see the fourth seed lose early.

That leaves one question: who could come through from this part of the draw?

Draper would fancy his chances if he were to down Zverev, but the likes of Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda will not be underestimated.

Murray: will he, won’t he?

We are still currently waiting to see if Andy Murray will take to court for what looks set to be his final Wimbledon campaign.

Murray’s back surgery a week ago has put his SW19 chances in jeopardy, and he has not been handed an easy draw against Tomas Machac.

The Czech is much improved in recent months and beat the Brit in Miami, a match where the former world No 1 injured his ankle.

All eyes will be on whether the Brit is fit enough for this clash on Tuesday.

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