Sprots

Who Federer and Djokovic will have to beat to win Wimbledon as Nadal negotiates nightmare draw

June 28, 20192 Mins read

Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are targeting glory at Wimbledon — Who will win the title? (Picture: Getty/Metro)

The Wimbledon draw has been officially made and there are some stunning matches on offer.

A mini-row over the seeding formula, which saw Roger Federer rise above Rafael Nadal to become the No. 2 seed, became virtually irrelevant as they both landed in the opposite half to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

That said, Nadal may be left slightly annoyed by the fact he as third seed has been handed a nightmare draw, which includes a mouth-watering potential second-round clash with Nick Kyrgios.

Here we take a look at the players the Big Three – who have shared the last 10 majors between them – could face on their way to glory.

Novak Djokovic

The defending champion faces a tricky opener against a man who has already beaten him this year.

Germanys Philipp Kohlschreiber, a former quarter-finalist in these parts, famously upset the Serb at Indian Wells earlier this season and Djokovic will need to be locked in from the word go.

His title defence will likely continue against American Denis Kudla, who reached round four in 2015, while former top-10 Latvian Ernests Gulbis willl perhaps fancy his chances of a run to the third round.

Felix Auger-Aliassime has impressed on grass and if he comes through a tough opener against his compatriot Vasek Pospisil, he could make a run to the last-16 to meet Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic potential route to Wimbledon glory

R1: Kohlschreiber
R2: Kudla
R3: Gulbis
R4: Auger-Aliassime
QF: Tsitsipas
SF: Zverev
F: Federer

Big things are expected of Greeces Stefanos Tsitsipas and he will likely battle it out with Russian rival Daniil Medvedev – who he is yet to beat – for a spot in the quarter-finals.

The other quarter in the top half is the weakest of the four, with no clear favourite to emerge.

Milos Raonic and Kevin Anderson would usually be solid choices but both have suffered with injuries this year so the door is surely open for Alexander Zverev to make a first Grand Slam semi-final.

Given Nadals tough draw, its hard to look beyond Federer reaching the final.

Wimbledon winners since 2003

2003: Federer d. Philippoussis
2004: Federer d. Roddick
2005: Federer d. Roddick
2006: Federer d. Nadal
2007: Federer d. Nadal
2008: Nadal d. Federer
2009: Federer d. Roddick
2010: Nadal d. Berdych
2011: Djokovic d. Nadal
2012: Federer d. Murray
2013: Murray d. Djokovic
2014: Djokovic d. Federer
2015: Djokovic d. Federer
2016: Murray d. Raonic
2017: Federer d. Cilic
2018: Djokovic d. Anderson

Rafael Nadal

The two-time winner starts against Japans Yuichi Sugita but the focus will already be firmly on a potential clash with Kyrgios in round two.

Kyrgios famously called Nadal salty in an interview earlier this year and no doubt the Spaniard will relish the chance to exact revenge on the Aussie, who defeated him in Acapulco this season.

Things wont get much easier for the world No. 2 should he find a way past Kyrgios, Canadas Denis Shapovalov is a potential third round opponent, although Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also a decent bet to get there.