Murray, Nadal In Same Half Of Wimbledon Draw

Defending champion Andy Murray has been drawn in the same half of the Wimbledon draw as Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka, who, depending on their performances at The Championships, could usurp Murray at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Novak Djokovic, who is also in contention for a return to the top spot, is in the bottom half of the 128-man draw with Roger Federer and Milos Raonic.

Murray could meet Wawrinka, a 2014 and 2015 quarter-finalist, in the last eight, whilst Nadal – seeking a third Roland Garros-Wimbledon title double – may face Marin Cilic, the runner-up at the recent Aegon Championships. Last year’s finalist Raonic could potentially challenge Federer in the quarter-finals, whilst Dominic Thiem is projected to meet Djokovic.

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Top seed and two-time champion Murray, who has a 53-9 record at the All England Club, will meet a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round. The Scot could potentially face No. 20 seed Nick Kyrgios or No. 14 seed Lucas Pouille, a quarter-finalist in 2016, in the fourth round, prior to a potential quarter-final against fifth seed Wawrinka or No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Wawrinka, who has brought on board Paul Annacone for the grass-court swing, has been drawn to meet #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev in the first round.

Fourth seed Nadal will compete at The Championships (40-9 record) for the first time since 2015 against John Millman in the first round. Gilles Muller and Ivo Karlovic, who contested the recent Ricoh Open final, are potential fourth-round opponents for Nadal, who previously reached the Last 16 in 2014. Seventh seed Cilic, who has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the past three years, opens against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Second seed Djokovic, who is attempting to capture his fourth crown at the All England Club (54-9 record), faces Martin Klizan in the first round. The Serbian is seeking to capture his first Grand Slam championship since completing the career Grand Slam with his first Roland Garros title in 2016 (d. Murray). Djokovic, who is competing at this week’s Aegon International, could potentially meet No. 29 seed Juan Martin del Potro in the third round. Del Porto won their London 2012 Olympics bronze medal match at Wimbledon, but Djokovic got the better of the Argentine in the 2013 Wimbledon semi-finals. Feliciano Lopez, the No. 19 seed and Aegon Championships winner, may meet Djokovic in the fourth round.

Third seed Federer, vying to clinch his 19th Grand Slam championship title to add to the Australian Open trophy he won in January, has been drawn to meet Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round. Federer, who won his ninth Gerry Weber Open title last week, may meet No. 27 seed Mischa Zverev or Bernard Tomic in the third round. The Swiss star has been drawn in the same quarter or the draw as No. 13 seed Grigor Dimitrov (a potential fourth-round opponent), No. 10 seed Alexander Zverev, who opens against Evgeny Donskoy, or last year’s finalist Milos Raonic, the No. 6 seed, who will play Jan-Lennard Struff.

Eighth seed Thiem, who advanced to the Roland Garros semi-finals for the second year running, has been placed in Djokovic’s bottom quarter of the draw. Thiem will face Vasek Pospisil in the first round, with a potential fourth-round match against No. 11 seed and 2010 finalist Tomas Berdych or 2007 and 2015 semi-finalist Richard Gasquet, the No. 22 seed. Berdych must first get past Jeremy Chardy, while Gasquet meets David Ferrer.