Jannik Sinner’s quest for his first Wimbledon title may come down to a blockbuster semi-final showdown with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Sinner opens against countryman Luca Nardi at the grass-court major, following the draw on Friday morning, News.Az reports, citing ATP Tour.
Djokovic, competing at his lowest seeding (sixth) since 2018, will begin his campaign for a record-tying eighth Wimbledon title against Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
Djokovic, who defeated Sinner at the All England Club in 2022 (QF) and 2023 (SF), is seeded for a quarter-final meeting with British No. 1 Jack Draper. The fourth-seeded Draper starts against Sebastian Baez and could face a testing third-round clash with in-form Halle champion Alexander Bublik.
In the bottom half of the draw, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz starts against 38-year-old Fabio Fognini. The 22-year-old Spaniard is riding an 18-match winning streak — the longest of his career — and could meet eighth seed Holger Rune in the quarter-finals.
If Alcaraz prevails, he will take on qualifiers Oliver Tarvet or Leandro Riedi, who are both making their Grand Slam main-draw debuts.
World No. 3 and three-time major finalist Alexander Zverev, who takes on Arthur Rinderknech, is seeded to meet Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. The fifth-seeded American faces big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his opener and leads Zverev 8-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Rising star Joao Fonseca has been handed a popcorn opening match in his Wimbledon debut against British No. 2 Jacob Fearnley. Fonseca’s fellow #NextGenATP players and main-draw debutants at SW19, Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy, will face each other, with the winner setting a potential second-round clash with Rune.
The 19-year-old Czech, Jakub Mensik, is seeded to meet home favourite Draper in the fourth round, having defeated the Briton en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami.
