The 2023 Wimbledon draw ceremony was held on Friday morning at the All-England Club, where Novak Djokovic will soon begin his bid for a fifth consecutive title.
As always, the defending champion will get things started on Centre Court when play opens on the first Monday. With Djokovic seeded second, that means the bottom half of the bracket will take to the courts on Day 1 of the Championships.
It’s a bottom half that figures to be dominated by Djokovic, who has not lost at Wimbledon since the 2017 quarterfinals and is already halfway to the calendar-year Grand Slam in 2023. As if the 36-year-old needs any help, his path through the draw doesn’t appear to be particularly difficult. Nick Kyrgios, the runner-up last summer, is in Djokovic’s quarter but may not be as big of a factor this time around given his physical state. Andrey Rublev, the other top-eight seed in Djokovic’s section, has never been past the quarters of a major. Hubert Hurkacz and Felix Auger-Aliassime are both struggling.
Elsewhere in the bottom half, Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud are on a collision course for the quarterfinals. On paper Sinner is the favorite to reach the semis out of that section, but he is once again dealing with injury issues of his own. As such, the door could be open for 2022 semifinalist Taylor Fritz or 2019 semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut.
It’s the top of the bracket that is absolutely loaded. Carlos Alcaraz’s nearest seed is Nicolas Jarry and the world No. 1 could meet either Alex de Minaur or Alexander Zverev in round four. Potential quarterfinal opponents for Alcaraz are Holger Rune, Frances Tiafoe, and Grigor Dimitrov.
A Daniil Medvedev vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas quarterfinal clash is possible in the top half, but it isn’t likely. Neither man is overly comfortable on grass and Tsitsipas finds himself in especially poor form at the moment. There are more than a few players in that quarter who look capable of capitalizing on any vulnerability shown by Medvedev and Tsitsipas. Among them are seeds Cameron Norrie, Tommy Paul, Francisco Cerundolo, Sebastian Korda, Tallon Griekspoor, and Ben Shelton, plus unseeded floaters like Andy Murray, Adrian Mannarino, Milos Raonic, Jiri Lehecka, and Marton Fucsovics.
Tsitsipas opens with Dominic Thiem and could meet Murray in round two. Medevedev vs. Mannarino is also a possible second-round showdown.
who ya got?
Tsitsi gets Andy second round. Andy could beat him given his poor form.
Can definitely see that happening.
The top players are so mediocre/downright poor on grass that presumably we will see some upsets. Am not an expert on the big servers who will likely be the ones to knock some players out.