The men’s and women’s draws for Wimbledon 2015 have been released and there will be some interesting matches to look forward to as Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova seek to successfully defend their titles.
In the men’s draw, Djokovic and Roger Federer are on opposite sides of each other, which means that a repeat of their memorable 2014 final is a possibility, while Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray have been placed in these respective halves of the draw.
But the biggest story is that of 2008 and 2010 champion Rafael Nadal, who has been placed in the same quarter as world number three Murray, his lowly seeding of tenth coming about as a result of his poor form this season.
It means that should Murray and Nadal get this far, their projected quarter-final meeting will be the earliest at any level since last year’s Rome Masters and the earliest at Grand Slam level since Wimbledon in 2008.
World number one Djokovic will open his title defence against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, a quarter-finalist in 2012, before potentially bumping into 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt, who will be playing here for the final time, in Round 2.
Hewitt, for his part, will face Jarkko Nieminen, another former quarter-finalist who got this far in 2006, for a shot at the Djoker in the second round. If they do meet, it will be their first meeting since the 2012 London Olympics.
Twenty-seventh seed Bernard Tomic, a quarter-finalist in 2011, could shape as the first seeded threat for Djokovic in the third round, before recent Queen’s finalist Kevin Anderson awaits in the fourth round.
The second section is led by fifth seed Kei Nishikori, who will open his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title against Italian Simone Bolelli, who as a lucky loser pushed him to five sets in the third round last year.
Should Nishikori get to Round 4, then his conqueror in last year’s US Open final, Marin Cilic, or 17th seed John Isner, who defeated Nicholas Mahut in that famous never-ending match in 2010, could await.
Newly crowned French Open champion Stan Wawrinka will open his bid for a first Wimbledon title against Portugal’s Joao Sousa, before his first seeded threat comes in the form of rising Austrian Dominic Thiem in the third round.
Should he make the quarter-finals for the second year in a row, then one of Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios or Milos Raonic could await in the last eight.
These three players stand to lose a load of rankings points as they all reached at least the quarter-finals last year, with Dimitrov and Raonic reaching the last four.
Dimitrov and Raonic are due to meet in the fourth round, while Nick Kyrgios, who opens against Diego Schwartzman, could face the latter, who defeated him in the quarter-finals last year, in the third round.
Moving down the draw and the third quarter could see the top two Spaniards, David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal, face off in the fourth round for, potentially, the right to face Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.
Nadal opens against Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci before his first seeded threat comes in the form of Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the third round.
Murray will start his bid for a second Wimbledon title against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the opening round, but could face some tough opposition with Andreas Seppi (25th seed, third round) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13th seed, fourth round) potentially blocking his path to a quarter-final showdown against Nadal.
Seven-time champion Roger Federer is the big name to watch out for in the bottom quarter of the draw and his opener will pit him against Damir Dzumhur, with rising American Jack Sock shaping as his first seeded threat in the third round.
Either Feliciano Lopez, a three-time quarter-finalist at the All England Club, or Roberto Bautista-Agut, who last year was named the most improved player on the ATP World Tour, could then loom as fourth round opponents for Federer.
Should Federer reach the quarter-finals as expected, then his conqueror at this stage in 2010, Tomas Berdych, could await. The Czech, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the final that year, opens against Jeremy Chardy in the first round and could face either Gael Monfils (18th) or Gilles Simon (12th) in the fourth round.
Barring any major upsets, the men’s quarter-final line up could unfold as follows:
Quarter-finals
Novak Djokovic versus Kei Nishikori
Stan Wawrinka versus Milos Raonic
Rafael Nadal versus Andy Murray
Tomas Berdych versus Roger Federer
Semi-finals
Novak Djokovic versus Stan Wawrinka
Rafael Nadal versus Roger Federer
Final
Novak Djokovic versus Rafael Nadal
Champion
Novak Djokovic
Now shifting focus to the women and world number one Serena Williams and defending champion Petra Kvitova are on opposite sides of the draw and it means that they cannot meet until the final.
The 2004 champion Maria Sharapova and world number three Simona Halep have been assigned to these respective halves of the draw, which means the Russian may need to break her ongoing 16-match losing streak against Williams if she is to reach the final for a third time.
Williams will start her bid to complete the Serena Slam against Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan on Monday, with France’s Caroline Garcia shaping as her first seeded threat in the third round.
Older sister Venus shapes as her potential fourth round opponent, but so too does Italian 19th seed Sara Errani, whom Serena defeated in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on her way to a third title there.
Both Venus and Errani have to face compatriots in the opening round; Venus starts off against Madison Brengle while Errani faces former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in her first match. The pair could then meet in the third round for the right to possibly face Serena in Round 4.
Seventh seed Ana Ivanovic, who recently reached the semi-finals at the French Open, shapes as Serena’s potential quarter-final opponent; the Serb, who also got this far at Wimbledon in 2007, starts against Chinese qualifier Xu Yifan with her first seeded threat coming in the form of 2013 junior champion Belinda Bencic.
Either ninth seed Carla Suarez Navarro, 23rd seed Victoria Azarenka or Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic could then loom as fourth round opponents for Ivanovic.
The second quarter will see 2004 champion Maria Sharapova open her bid for a second Wimbledon title against British wildcard Johanna Konta, who recently reached the quarter-finals at Eastbourne.
Her first seeded threat will come in the form of Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, while any of Andrea Petkovic, Zarina Diyas or Flavia Pennetta could then await the Russian in the fourth round.
Should she reach the quarter-finals for only the second time since 2006, then she may get the chance to gain some revenge on Lucie Safarova, who dethroned her as champion at Roland Garros earlier this month, in the last eight.
Safarova, for her part, faces tricky American Alison Riske in her opening match and could face Sloane Stephens, a quarter-finalist in 2013, in the third round. Compatriot Karolina Pliskova, who has beaten her twice this year (both in the space of a week in February), could then await in Round 4.
Moving down to the bottom half of the draw and fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki shouldn’t have a problem reaching at least the fourth round, where any of Garbine Muguruza or 10th seed Angelique Kerber could await.
Should the Dane reach the quarter-finals at the All England Club for the first time, then third seed Simona Halep, a semi-finalist last year, could await. Halep opens against Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova and could face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round and then 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki in the fourth.
Down at the bottom of the draw, second seed and defending champion Petra Kvitova will open her title defence against the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens, with her first threats coming in the form of either 28th seed Jelena Jankovic, or Laura Robson, who has been given a wildcard into the main draw, in the third round.
Former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, who has dropped to 13th in the world after a poor first half of the year, could then await in Round 4. Any of Eugenie Bouchard, whom she beat in last year’s final, Ekaterina Makarova or Madison Keys would then await the Czech in the quarter-finals.
Bouchard, who will risk her place in the top 20 as she attempts to defend her points from last year, opens against Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying and could face Australian Open semi-finalist Keys in the third round and then any of Makarova, France’s Alize Cornet or promising Croat Ana Konjuh in the fourth.
And so, should the women’s matches unfold without any major upsets, then this could be the potential quarter-final line-up:
Quarter-finals
Serena Williams versus Ana Ivanovic
Maria Sharapova versus Lucie Safarova
Caroline Wozniacki versus Simona Halep
Ekaterina Makarova versus Petra Kvitova
Semi-finals
Serena Williams versus Maria Sharapova
Simona Halep versus Petra Kvitova
Final
Serena Williams versus Petra Kvitova
Champion
Serena Williams
So, those are just some of the highlights from the draw.
Can Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova repeat as champions? Can Roger Federer win Wimbledon one last time? And can Serena Williams replicate the Serena Slam she originally achieved between the 2002 French Open and 2003 Australian Open?
All those questions and plenty more are set to be answered when Wimbledon starts this Monday night (AEST).
Key matches to watch on Day 1
The men
Novak Djokovic (1) versus Philipp Kohlschreiber
Jarkko Nieminen versus Lleyton Hewitt
Leonardo Mayer (24) versus Thanasi Kokkinakis
Simone Bolelli versus Kei Nishikori (5)
Stan Wawrinka (4) versus Joao Sousa
Nick Kyrgios (26) versus Diego Schwartzman
The women
Serena Williams (1) versus Margarita Gasparyan
Sara Errani (19) versus Francesca Schiavone
Madison Brengle versus Venus Williams (16)
Maria Sharapova (4) versus Johanna Konta
Daria Gavrilova versus Irina-Camelia Begu (29)
Alison Riske versus Lucie Safarova (6)
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