The Wimbledon draw is finally out and after so much controversy about the seeding, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are in the same half.
During the last few days, there has been some discontent among the many tennis fans for the fact that Wimbledon is using his own algorithm to recalculate the seedings. The result was that Rafael Nadal was seeded no.3 even if he was the world no.2 (instead Federer was seeded no.2). That was a huge blow for the Spaniard because being seeded no.2 was meaning avoiding for sure playing Novak Djokovic before a possible final. With Rafa falling in Roger’s half this swap had no consequences.
Let’s analyze the most important points of this draw.
Novak Djokovic’s projected path
The defending champion and seed no.1 had a rather good draw at least in the first few rounds as he will play the world no.57 Philipp Kohlschreiber before possibly facing Denis Kudla (113), and his compatriot Dusan Lajovic (33). Nole will start to face the big guns from the 4th round where he is expected to play either an in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime (21) or Gael Monfils (15). In the quarters, Nole is expected to face either Stefanos Tsitsipas (6) or Daniil Medvedev (13). Finally, Djokovic is expected to play Alexander Zverev in the semifinal.
Here the path
R1 – Philipp Kohlschreiber
R2 – Denis Kudla
R3 – Dusan Lajovic
R4 – Felix Auger-Aliassime / Gael Monfils
1/4 – Stefanos Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev
1/2 – Sascha Zverev
Roger Federer’s projected path
Seeded no.2, the Swiss had a great draw. Roger will face the world no.87 Lloyd Harris in the first round. Then Federer should play Noha Rubin (183) in the 2nd round, then Lucas Pouille (28), Borna Coric (14). In the quarters, Federer may play John Isner (12) and in the seminal Rafael Nadal (2).
Here the path
R1 – Kohlschreiber
R2 – Denis Kudla
R3 – Dusan Lajovic
R4 – Felix Auger-Aliassime / Gael Monfils
1/4 – Stefanos Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev
1/2 – Sascha Zverev
Rafael Nadal’s projected path
Rafa had a rather lousy draw. In fact, after playing Yuichi Sugita (258) in the opening match, the Spaniard will face Nick Kyrgios in the 2nd round. The Australian has a game that Rafa doesn’t really like, especially on grass and the two do not like each other much. In the 3rd round, Nadal is expected to play Denis Shapovalov (27) and then Marin Cilic (18) that has recently beaten the world no.2 6-3 6-3 in Hurlingham. In the quarters, Rafa may face Dominic Thiem before a possible showdown with Roger Federer
This is the projected path
R1 – Yuichi Sugita
R2 – Nick Kyrgios
R3 – Denis Shapovalov
R4 – Marin Cilic
1/4 – Dominic Thiem
1/2 – Roger Federer
Here the full draw Men’s Singles
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