Wimbledon: Federer Handed Easy Draw, Nadal Paired With Djokovic And Del Potro

Roger Federer will begin his 2018 Wimbledon campaign against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic after the draw was unveiled Friday morning.

The number one seed is looking for a ninth title in his 20th appearance at the All England Club and is the overwhelming favorite to retain the title he won 12 months earlier.

There is unlikely to be a repeat of last season’s final as Marin Cilic was drawn in the same half as the Swiss ace, and this time if they meet, it will be in the semi-finals rather than the summit clash.

Apart from that Federer has a relatively easy draw, but could come up against his Gerry Weber Open conqueror Borna Coric later in the tournament. The other dangerous seeded players in his half are Milos Raonic, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson.

Rafael Nadal, the number two seed, will begin his campaign against Israel’s Dudi Sela, but has a much tougher draw compared to his long-time rival in the top half of the table.

The Spaniard has former champions Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the same half of the draw, while young guns David Goffin, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem could also pose threats later in the tournament. Another potential danger to Nadal’s hope of making his first final at SW19 since 2011 is Juan Martin del Potro, who is showing signs of his best form in recent years.

Wimbledon will be Nadal’s one and only grass court tournament having pulled out of the Fever-Tree Championships at the Queen’s Club due to fatigue after a grueling clay court campaign. He is among the favorites, but will have to negotiate some tricky rounds at the start of the tournament.

Murray, who is coming back from an injury, was a doubt for the third Grand Slam of the year, but has confirmed his participation. The world number 156 has avoided all the big guns and will begin his campaign against Benoit Paire, the player he beat in the fourth round in 2017 – his last Grand Slam appearance.

Djokovic, meanwhile, will start his campaign against American Tennys Sandgren and the Serbian will be hoping to make a deep run – something he has not done at a Grand Slam since reaching the final of the U.S. Open in 2016 – with his best appearance being the quarter-finals.

The Serb is slowly but surely getting back to his best form after his injury struggles in the last 12 months. He showed it when he made to the final of the Fever-Tree Championships last week where he lost to Marin Cilic.

There are some blockbuster clashes lined up in the opening round with three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka taking on number six seed Grigor Dimitrov in the opening round, while an all French clash will see Richard Gasquet taking on the flamboyant Gael Monfils.