The draw began at the All England Club and the first name to sound was that of Carlos Alcaraz. His lyrics were written in the first hole in the box, which little by little was filled with the rest of the favorites. For the first time in his career, he is the favourite, at least according to the ranking, since, if the merits are considered, it is hard not to think of Novak Djokovic, seven-time champion in the Cathedral, as the great candidate one year further.
Spanish and Serbian will not be able to see each other until the final, this being the match that everyone wants to witness. This is not a surprise and it was known since Roland Garros, when it was clear that both were going to occupy the first and second position in the ranking. It only remained to guess in what order.
With Alcaraz first and Djokovic second, the doors of the draw were opened at Wimbledon, where the Murcian received a piece of luck. His debut aims to be pleasant and he will face a Jeremy Chardy who has played five games in two years (1-4) and who, at 36, uses the protected ranking to scratch a few last tournaments. Years ago, Chardy, with his serve, would have been a tough contender; now he is more focused on his duties as Ugo Humbert’s trainer than on anything else.
Avoiding a difficult first round was one of the objectives, but from there the story gets more complicated. Arthur Rinderknech, in the event of winning against Alexandre Muller, will be the opponent in the second round, and the Frenchman has just made Alcaraz suffer greatly at Queen’s, in a match that went to three sets and in which the Frenchman had advantage break.
The third round yields the great service of Nicolás Jarry, while in the round of 16 a well-known name appears, that of Alexander Zverev. The German comes from making the semifinals in Halle and every time he looks more like the tennis player before breaking his ankle. And he is one of the most dangerous rivals possible for a round of 16. Also, if it is not the German, it could be Alex de Minaur, who has had a great previous tour of grass with that final at Queen’s.
For rooms, the most brilliant name is that of Holger Rune, Alcaraz’s contemporary rival, but the Dane’s service sheet on this surface is scarce. He won his first match on grass two weeks ago at Queen’s -where he made the semi-finals- and here, before thinking about a possible round of 16, he will have to focus first on winning a match.
In the semifinals, two other big names, those of Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Logical, because they are the semifinals, but it must be taken into account that neither the Russian nor the Greek know what it is to go from the round of 16 on these tracks.
Alcaraz, after several days with the buzz of the thigh problem, trained for the first time this Friday at the All England Club, in a one-hour session that served to clear up the unknowns about his physical condition.
As was already known before the draw, Djokovic has gone to the other table, where he will debut against a rookie rival at Wimbledon, such as the Argentine Pedro Cachin, and will have a road ahead that includes Hubert Hurkacz or Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16, Andrey Rublev or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals and Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. The Serbian will be in charge of opening the center court on Monday, so Alcaraz’s debut will be on Tuesday, July 4.
Badosa, before Riske
The Navy, in addition to Alcaraz, will have Alejandro Davidovich, who will play against the young Arthur Fils; Roberto Bautista, against Roman Safiullin; Roberto Carballés, against Matteo Arnaldi; Jaume Munar, who will face off against John Isner; Albert Ramos, with Hubert Hurkacz, and Bernabé Zapata, who will collide with Tomás Etcheverry.
In the women’s draw, Paula Badosa will play against Alison Riske, Nuria Párrizas against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Sara Sorribes against Martina Trevisa, Cristina Bucsa against Kamilla Rahimova, Jessica Bouzas against Anhelina Kalinina and Rebeka Masarova will face the Egyptian Mayar Sherif.
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