Carlos Alcaraz was fortunate in the Wimbledon draw, being paired in the first round with the 262nd in the world, the Estonian Mark Lajal, and will have a more or less peaceful path until a hypothetical semifinals, where he could meet Jannik Sinner, avoiding Novak Djokovic until the final. Lajal will come to this match on a roll, after passing the Wimbledon qualifying phase against three tennis players with a higher ranking than him, Passaro, Rocha and Duckworth, but this 21-year-old Estonian, 1.91 meters tall, should not be a problem for an Alcaraz who They could face each other in the second round with Aleksandar Vukic or Sebastian Ofner and whose first serious test would not be until the third stage, when Frances Tiafoe appears on the horizon. The American, however, is a shadow of himself since he eliminated Rafael Nadal at the US Open in 2022 and in fact comes to this tournament with many doubts, after injuring his knee after a fall at Queen’s less than two weeks ago.
From there, Alcaraz could face Ugo Humbert in the round of 16. The Frenchman is a good player on grass, with the title in Halle last year as a credential, but this season he is disappointing on the surface with defeats in the first rounds of Queen’s and Mallorca. In the quarterfinals appears the grass-allergic Casper Ruud, who is the only player in the top 40 who has not played a grass tournament this year or the more likely Tommy Paul, champion at Queen’s last week and one of the few who can boast of having an even head-to-head with Alcaraz, whom he has defeated twice. Having lost the status of second seed, by giving up the 500 points as the winner of Queen’s, Alcaraz starts this tournament as the third favorite and that means he has to face Jannik Sinner, world number one, in a hypothetical semifinals, while avoiding Novak Djokovic until the final.
Alcaraz will have the privilege of opening the centre court on Monday at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. in Spain) as the reigning champion. Djokovic, after putting his knee problems behind him, will face Vit Kopriva in his debut on Tuesday and has a feasible draw until the quarter-finals, when Alex de Minaur, winner in S’hertogenbosch, and Hubert Hurkacz, one of the best servers on the circuit, appear. For Sinner, the draw has been treacherous and, despite the first round being against Yannick Hanfmann, in the second he could face Matteo Berrettini, finalist in Stuttgart this year and at Wimbledon in 2021, or Marton Fucsovics. In addition, the transalpine could meet Tallon Griekspoor in the third round, who had him on the ropes a week ago in Halle. In the round of 16, he will face a limping Nicolas Jarry or a fading Ben Shelton, and in the quarter-finals Daniil Medvedev. According to the draw, based on the rankings, the quarter-finals would pit Sinner against Daniil Medvedev, Alcaraz against Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev against Andrey Rublev and Djokovic against Hubert Hurkacz.
As for the rest of the Spaniards, Alejandro Davidovich will debut against Sebastian Korda, Pablo Carreño, who has never won a match at Wimbledon and is returning after a serious elbow injury, against Griekspoor, Pedro Martínez, against Paul, Roberto Bautista, against Maximilian Marterer, Roberto Carballés, against Alexander Zverev, and Jaume Munar, against the local Billy Harris. Alejandro Moro, the only Spaniard who passed the qualifying round, will debut against the British Jacob Fearnley. In addition, Andy Murray, still with doubts about whether he will play or not, will have a debut with bitter memories, since he will face the Czech Tomas Machac, against whom he injured his ankle ligaments in the Miami Masters 1,000.
The female picture
Castellón’s Sara Sorribes will start Wimbledon against Italian Jasmine Paolini, a Roland Garros finalist this year and the seventh seed in the British tournament. For her part, Paula Badosa will face Karolina Muchova, a Roland Garros finalist in 2023 and who returned to competition this week in Eastbourne after ten months out due to wrist surgery. The Czech and the Spaniard have met twice, with one victory each. Badosa arrives at this Wimbledon after reaching the quarter-finals in Bad Homburg, the best result of her career in a grass-court tournament. Of the Spaniards, the one who had the worst luck this Friday in the draw was Jessica Bouzas, who last year made it through the qualifying round and made her debut in the tournament and who will have to face the reigning champion, the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, in the first match.
Cristina Bucsa, who is defending last year’s second round, will face Romania’s Ana Bogdan, while Rebeka Masarova will have to deal with Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova. As for the big favourites for the title, Iga Swiatek, world number one but with a lot to prove on grass, will have a difficult debut against the American Sofia Kenin, winner of the Australian Open in 2020, but who has been on the decline in recent years. Elena Rybakina, winner in 2022, will face Elean Gabriela Ruse, Aryna Sabalenka the American Emina Bektas and Cori Gauff her compatriot Caroline Dolehide. According to the draw, Swiatek would avoid Sabalenka until the final, while the Belarusian has fallen into Gauff’s quadrant, with whom she could meet in the semi-finals.
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