Djokovic, Federer On Wimbledon SF Collision Course

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic finds himself in the same half of the draw as seven-time champion Roger Federer as he looks to win his third successive Wimbledon crown and fourth overall at The Championships.

Djokovic and Federer have met in the final the past two years at the All England Club.

Meanwhile, second seed and 2013 champion Andy Murray is on a semi-final collision course with fourth seed Stan Wawrinka.

Blockbuster first-round clashes include: John Isner vs. Marcos Baghdatis, Sam Groth vs. Kei Nishikori, Ivo Karlovic vs. Borna Coric, Stan Wawrinka vs. Taylor Fritz, Jack Sock vs. Ernests Gulbis.

View Full Draw

The 29-year-old Djokovic has already pocketed the Australian Open and Roland Garros titles this year, beating Murray in both finals, and is in hot pursuit of the calendar-year Grand Slam. The Belgrade native opens his Wimbledon campaign against Great Britain’s James Ward, who made his best Grand Slam showing when he reached the third round last year.

Next up for Djokovic would either be another British opponent – #NextGen star Kyle Edmund – or Adrian Mannarino. The first seed Djokovic could face would be No. 28 Sam Querrey in the third round, with No. 13 David Ferrer projected to face Djokovic in the fourth round, although former quarter-finalist Philipp Kohlschreiber is also in the Spaniard’s section.

A stacked part of the draw completes the top quarter. Sixth seed and 2014 semi-finalist Milos Raonic, who finished runner-up at the Aegon Championships last week (l. to Murray), could meet Djokovic in the quarter-finals. The Canadian opens his bid against Pablo Carreno Busta, with Andreas Seppi or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez possible second-round opponents. No. 27 Sock is projected to meet Raonic in the third round, with No. 11 David Goffin or No. 20 Kevin Anderson potential fourth-round rivals.

Federer headlines the second quarter of the draw. The 34-year-old Swiss was forced to miss Roland Garros, ending his Open Era-record streak of 65 straight Grand Slam appearances, but returned on the grass in Stuttgart and Halle with two semi-final showings. Federer, who lifted his seventh Wimbledon trophy in 2012 (d. Murray), opens his campaign against Guido Pella.

The first seed Federer could face is No. 30 Alexander Dolgopolov, with two Frenchmen – No. 16 Gilles Simon and No. 17 Gael Monfils – leading the charge to face the Swiss in the fourth round, though former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov also features in that section.

Fifth seed Kei Nishikori is projected to challenge Federer in the quarter-finals, though the Japanese star has never been past the fourth round at SW19. Nishikori has a dangerous first-round opponent in Australia’s big-serving Groth, who reached the third round last year. The Croatian contingent is tightly packed in the second quarter of the draw, with Karlovic drawn to face #NextGen star Coric in the first round and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic a possible third-round rival for either.

In an all-British first-round clash, Murray will challenge wild card Liam Broady, who recorded his only tour-level win when he defeated Marinko Matosevic in the first round at Wimbledon last year. In the second round Murray would face either a qualifier or Yen-Hsun Lu, with No. 26 Benoit Paire seeded to face Murray in the third round.

There is potential for a blockbuster fourth-round clash between Murray and former quarter-finalist Nick Kyrgios, but the #NextGen star must first overcome the experienced Radek Stepanek in the first round and strong grass-court contenders Dustin Brown and Feliciano Lopez.

Seventh seed Richard Gasquet and No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga feature in a section of the draw stacked with grass-court potential, all vying to face Murray in the quarters. In that section, Isner faces former semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the first round and last year’s quarter-finalist Vasek Pospisil could look to upset Gasquet in the third round.

Under the guidance of Richard Krajicek as a grass-court consultant, Wawrinka will look to improve on two quarter-final showings in the past two years. But the Swiss has his work cut out for him. He opens against American #NextGen prospect Fritz, and could face 2013 semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro in the second round, should the Argentine overcome Stephane Robert in his opener.

Eighth seed Dominic Thiem is projected to face Wawrinka in the quarter-finals. The 22-year-old Austrian won his first grass-court title in Stuttgart, right after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros. But Thiem’s first-round match sees him take on Florian Mayer, who beat the Austrian last week in the Halle semi-finals.

Tenth seed Tomas Berdych, who finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the 2010 final, could meet Thiem in the fourth round, but #NextGen Alexander Zverev may first challenge the Czech in the third round. The 19-year-old German reached his first grass-court final last week in Halle (l. to Mayer).

Defending champion Djokovic will lead off the first-round action on Monday at the All England Club, when he leads the Centre Court billing.