Defending champ Alcaraz & top seed Sinner in same half of Wimbledon draw

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top seed Jannik Sinner have landed in the same half of the Wimbledon draw, with the pair seeded to meet in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz, who overcame Novak Djokovic in five sets in the Wimbledon final last year, defeated Sinner in the semi-finals at Roland Garros en route to the title earlier this month. The 21-year-old Spaniard leads the 22-year-old Italian 5-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Third seed Alcaraz is seeded to meet Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the fourth round and could play eighth seed Casper Ruud or Queen’s champion Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals. Alcaraz, who starts against Estonia qualifier Mark Lajal, is chasing his fourth major.

No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Sinner begins against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann and might face 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini in the second round. Sinner could then meet 21-year-old American Ben Shelton in the fourth round, with 2023 semi-finalist Daniil Medvedev a potential quarter-final opponent. Medvedev begins against Aleksandar Kovacevic and could meet Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.

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Seven-time champion Djokovic is the second seed and faces Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva in the first round. The Serbian could play Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the third round, Holger Rune in the fourth round and is projected to meet seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals. Halle finalist Hurkacz beat Roger Federer en route to the semi-finals in 2021.

Seven-time Nitto ATP Finals winner Djokovic is seeded to play fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. Zverev, who has never been beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, is projected to meet 13th seed Taylor Fritz in the fourth round and sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals. Rublev could play 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the third round and 11th-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round.

British lefty Jack Draper is a potential third-round opponent for Zverev.

Two-time champion Andy Murray will play Czech Tomas Machac in the first round on Tuesday, with ninth seed Alex de Minaur taking on Corentin Moutet in the first round. De Minaur is in the same quarter of the draw as Djokovic.

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