Wimbledon Men’s Singles Draw: Djokovic, Tsitsipas in Same Half, Federer in Medvedev’s Quarter

By Ricky Dimon

The Wimbledon draw ceremony was held on Friday, when Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer landed in opposite halves.

As a result, a rematch of the historic 2019 final could take place on champion Sunday in a little more than two weeks’ time. Of course, there is a long way to go–especially for Federer–before that could come to fruition. The 39-year-old’s 2021 comeback has been a rocky one. Although he won three matches at the French Open, Federer lost right away in Geneva to Pablo Andujar and–in more concerning fashion–dropped his second grass-court match in Halle to Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Federer’s bid for Grand Slam title No. 21 will begin against savvy grass-court player Adrian Mannarino prior to a possible date with fellow veteran Richard Gasquet. A red-hot Cameron Norrie is a potential third-round opponent for the world No. 8. Week two for Federer could get started with Lorenzo Sonego or Sam Querrey, both of whom find themselves in finals this week (Sonego in Eastbourne, Querrey in Mallorca). Daniil Medvedev, who will battle Querrey for the Mallorca title, is the top seed in the bottom section of the Wimbledon bracket and is on a collision course with Federer for the quarterfinals.

The other quarter in the bottom half is home to Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini, Ugo Humbert, John Isner, and Nick Kyrgios. Humbert is already 8-1 on grass this summer with a title in Halle, but his draw at the All-England Club is not a good one. The Frenchman opens with Kyrgios and could run into Auger-Aliassime in the last 32. Berrettini vs. Isner would be another third-round matchup to watch.

At the top of the draw, Djokovic should cruise into the semifinals–and possibly all the way to the title. The world No. 1 and defending champion (2018 and 2019) has no apparent danger in close proximity. Kevin Anderson actually finished runner-up to Djokovic at the 2018 championships and is a possible round-two opponent, but Anderson certainly isn’t the same kind of player three years later. Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner are the likely quarterfinal foes for Djokovic.

A rematch of the French Open final between Djokovic and Tsitsipas is possible on semifinal Friday in SW19. Tsitsipas, who has not yet played on grass in 2021, faces a tough opener against Frances Tiafoe. Vasek Pospisil, Karen Khachanov, and then probably either Alex de Minaur, Dan Evans, or Feliciano Lopez could be next in line for the third-seeded Greek. Roberto Bautista Agut, Denis Shapovalov, Reilly Opelka, and Andy Murray are also part of a deep but also relatively wide-open quarter.

Among the marquee first-round matchups are Federer vs. Mannarino, Humbert vs. Kyrgios, Tsitsipas vs. Tiafoe, Evans vs. Lopez, Sinner vs. Marton Fucsovics, Khachanov vs. Mackenzie McDonald, de Minaur vs. Sebastian Korda, Murray vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili, Querrey vs. Pablo Carreno Busta, Medvedev vs. Jan-Lennard Struff, Grigor Dimitrov vs. Fernando Verdasco, and Hubert Hurkacz vs. Lorenzo Musetti.

With Djokovic being the defending champ and therefore given the first match on Centre Court, the top half of the draw will kick off the proceedings on Monday.

Click here for the full singles draw at the Wimbledon website

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.