WIMBLEDON DRAW • RAFA NADAL IN CHALLENGING BOTTOM HALF • ROGER FEDERER AND CILIC ON TOP

Written by: Staff on 29th June 2018

WIMBLEDON DRAW • RAFA NADAL IN CHALLENGING BOTTOM HALF • ROGER FEDERER AND CILIC ON TOP

epa06843876 Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during a training session for the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, 27 June 2018. The Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2018 will be held in London from 02 July to 15 July. EPA-EFE/PETER KLAUNZER EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES/NO ARCHIVES |

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during a training session for the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, 27 June 2018. The Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2018 will be held in London from 02 July to 15 July. EPA-EFE/PETER KLAUNZER

Nadal in difficult bottom half at Wimbledon, Federer and Cilic on other side

By Ricky Dimon

The Wimbledon draw ceremony was held on Friday morning in London and one of its results was a tough bottom half of the bracket featuring Rafael Nadal. Ranked first in the world but seeded second, Nadal finds himself on a side with Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Andy Murray.

But it may start off easy for the Spaniard. He will kick off his campaign on Tuesday against Dudi Sela and his nearest seed is Roland Garros semifinalist Marco Cecchinato. Diego Schwartzman and Fabio Fognini are potential fourth-round opponents for Nadal, while Del Potro, Murray, David Goffin, Jeremy Chardy, and Denis Shapovalov are possible quarterfinal adversaries.

Murray is set for an intriguing first-rounder against Benoit Paire, whom the injury-plague Scot defeated 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 during fourth-round action at Wimbledon last season.

In the bottom half’s other section, Zverev is joined by Kyrgios, Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Kyle Edmund, Kei Nishikori, and Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic and Edmund are on a collision course for the last 32. Thiem is beginning his fortnight against Marcos Baghdatis and would then meet either Karen Khachanov or David Ferrer.

At the top of the draw, Federer is facing Dusan Lajovic right off the bat (rematch of a 2017 second-rounder), either Lukas Lacko or Benjamin Bonzi in the second round, and potentially big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the last 32. Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey–two of last summer’s stars at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open–are possible quarterfinal foes for the eight-time champion and No. 1 seed.

If there is a rematch of the 2017 title tilt between Federer and Marin Cilic, it would come in the semifinals. Cilic landed in the top half and finds himself in a quarter along with Grigor Dimitrov, John Isner, Milos Raonic, Lucas Pouille, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and an unseeded Stan Wawrinka. Dimitrov and Wawrinka are going head-to-head in popcorn-required first-round affair.

Other first-rounders to watch throughout the draw include Karlovic vs. Mikhail Youzhny, Coric vs. Daniil Medvedev, Gael Monfils vs. Richard Gasquet, Pouille vs. Denis Kudla, Jared Donaldson vs. Malek Jaziri, Verdasco vs. Frances Tiafoe, Djokovic vs. Tennys Sandgren, Kyrgios vs. Denis Istomin, Shapovalov vs. Chardy, Goffin vs. Matthew Ebden, and Cecchinato vs. Alex De Minaur.