Rafael Nadal found himself in a loaded bottom half of the Wimbledon draw following Friday morning’s draw ceremony in London. Nadal will battle for a spot in the championship match with the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, and Andy Murray.
Week one, though, could be a breeze. The world No. 1, who is seeded second at the All-England Club, will begin his fortnight on Tuesday against Dudi Sela and his nearest seed is French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato. Diego Schwartzman and Fabio Fognini are potential fourth-round foes for Nadal, while Del Potro, Murray, David Goffin, and Denis Shapovalov are possible quarterfinal opponents.
Murray is set for an intriguing first-rounder against Benoit Paire, whom the Scot beat 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 during fourth-round action last year.
In the bottom half’s other quarter, Zverev is joined by Djokovic, Kyrgios, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Kyle Edmund, and Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic and Edmund are on a collision course for the third round. Thiem kicks off his campaign against Marcos Baghdatis and would then run into either Karen Khachanov or David Ferrer.
At the top of the bracket, Federer is facing Dusan Lajovic in his opener, either Lukas Lacko or Benjamin Bonzi in the last 64, and potentially huge-serving Ivo Karlovic in the third round. Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey–two of last summer’s standouts at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open–are possible quarterfinal adversaries for the No. 1 seed and eight-time champion.
If there is a rematch of the 2017 final between Federer and Marin Cilic, it would come in the semis. Cilic landed in the top half and will compete in a quarter alongside Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, John Isner, Lucas Pouille, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and an unseeded Stan Wawrinka. Dimitrov and Wawrinka have to go head-to-head in round one.
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