The men’s and women’s draws for Wimbledon 2017 have been made official, and there will be some interesting and intriguing matches that could unfold over the next fortnight.

We start with the men’s draw, where the top two seeds, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are on opposite sides, meaning they cannot face each other until the final at the earliest. Neither can Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer who are on those respective sides of the draw.

Murray will face a lucky loser, Alexander Bublik, in his first match, with Italian 28th seed Fabio Fognini set to await as his first seeded opponent in the third round.

That match looms as a potentially dangerous one for the defending champion, given Fognini won in straight sets when they met at the Rome Masters in May.

Before that, the Scot could face Dustin Brown – a second-round victor over Rafael Nadal in 2015 – in the second round. Frenchman Lucas Pouille or Australian Nick Kyrgios loom as his potential opponents in the round of 16.

Kyrgios, a quarter-finalist in 2014, starts against Pierre-Hugues Herbert while Pouille, also a past quarter-finalist at the All England Club, is up against Malek Jaziri in his first match.

The other leading name in the top quarter of the draw is Stan Wawrinka, who despite being ranked third in the world is seeded fifth due to his poor overall record at Wimbledon.

The Swiss, runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, starts against Daniil Medvedev and could then strike Tommy Haas, who recently upset Roger Federer in Stuttgart, in the second round.

2013 quarter-finalist Fernando Verdasco and then French favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could then loom as obstacles in his path to a first Wimbledon title and a career Grand Slam.

The second quarter of the draw is led by reigning French Open champion Nadal, whose first match is against Australian John Millman.

The Spaniard then faces a potentially tricky path after that, with Denis Istomin (second round), Karen Khachanov (third) and then Gilles Muller (fourth) set to await him in his path to a third Wimbledon title.

Istomin notably upset Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open in January, while Khachanov reached the fourth round at the French Open last month and Muller defeated Nadal at Wimbledon back in 2005.

In the fourth section of the draw, Kei Nishikori (seeded ninth) and Marin Cilic (seventh) could reprise their 2014 US Open final showdown in the fourth round, provided they get this far.

Nishikori is up against Italian Marco Cecchinato in his first match, while Cilic faces a tricky first round clash against veteran German Philipp Kohlschreiber, a quarter-finalist in 2012.

We now move further down the draw, where sixth seed and last year’s finalist, Marin Cilic, will start his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

The Canadian, like Nadal, faces a tricky path with Mikhail Youzhny (second round), Albert Ramos-Vinolas (third) and tenth seed Alexander Zverev (fourth) looming as his potential obstacles to the title.

Should he reach the quarter-finals, then he could face Roger Federer once again – albeit a round earlier following their five-set showdown in the semi-finals last year.

Federer will start his bid for a record eighth Wimbledon title against Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, and could strike Mischa Zverev in the third round and then Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth.

Zverev will be out for revenge when he faces Bernard Tomic in his first match – the Australian won their match-up in Eastbourne just this week.

Moving further down the draw, and for the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament, Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic are drawn to face off in the quarter-finals.

Thiem starts against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, a quarter-finalist in 2015, and shouldn’t be troubled until the fourth round where Tomas Berdych is likely to await.

Berdych, the 2010 finalist, starts against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and could strike either 22nd seed Richard Gasquet or former world number three David Ferrer, unseeded at a major for the first time since the 2005 Australian Open, in the third round.

At the bottom of the draw, second seed and three-time champion Djokovic starts against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, with former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro set to await the Serb in the third round.

Should the match-up between del Potro and Djokovic eventuate, it will be a rematch of their epic semi-final from 2013, which the Serb won in five sets before eventually losing that year’s final to Andy Murray.

The winner of that match could then strike French 15th seed Gael Monfils in the fourth round.

Barring any major upsets, the quarter-finals onwards could look like this:

Quarter-finals
[1] Andy Murray (GBR) versus [5] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) versus [7] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[6] Milos Raonic (CAN) versus [3] Roger Federer (SUI)
[8] Dominic Thiem (AUT) versus [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Semi-finals
[1] Andy Murray (GBR) versus [4] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[3] Roger Federer (SUI) versus [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Final
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) versus [3] Roger Federer (SUI)

Champion
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP)

We now swing our focus to the women’s draw, where Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep are the top two seeds, which means they cannot face each other until the final, neither can Karolina Pliskova or Elina Svitolina who are seeded third and fourth respectively.

Traditionally, the women’s defending champion would open play on Centre Court on the first Tuesday of the tournament, however Serena Williams will be unable to fulfill her part as a result of her absence due to pregnancy.

It is the second time in four years that a ladies’ defending champion has not returned to Wimbledon; Marion Bartoli did not return to defend her title in 2014 after announcing her retirement six weeks after saluting in 2013.

Instead, last year’s runner-up, Angelique Kerber, will be given the honour of opening play on Centre Court on Tuesday night (AEST).

The German faces a potentially tricky draw; after drawing a qualifier in her first match, the 29-year-old could then strike a pair of former semi-finalists in Kirsten Flipkens in the second round, and then Lucie Safarova in the third.

Former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, who has dropped to 15th in the rankings, is her projected opponent in the round of 16.

The second section of the draw has thrown up an intriguing first-round clash between 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska and former world number one Jelena Jankovic.

Also in this part of the draw is two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who could face compatriot Ekaterina Makarova in the second round (both face qualifiers in their first matches), and reigning Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig, who is up against Timea Bacsinszky in her first match.

If seedings hold, Kerber and Kuznetsova could meet in the final eight.

US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova is the leading seed in the second quarter of the draw and her first match is against Evgeniya Rodina.

Daria Gavrilova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova are also in this section of the draw and they could face off in the third round for the right to face Pliskova, who has reached the final at the ongoing tournament in Eastbourne, in the round of 16 on Manic Monday.

The other notable name in this quarter of the draw is fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who starts against Timea Babos with 12th seed Kristina Mladenovic looming as her fourth round opponent.

We now move down to the third quarter of the draw, where eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova, five-time champion Venus Williams and fourth seed Elina Svitolina are among the leading contenders.

Cibulkova, a quarter-finalist last year, starts against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic and could strike either former finalist Sabine Lisicki or young rising Croat Ana Konjuh in the third round.

If she advances to round four, then five-time champion Venus Williams is likely to await.

The elder of the Williams sisters starts against Belgium’s Elise Mertens and should enjoy a smooth passage through her draw as she bids to reach the final at the All England Club for the first time since 2009.

Svitolina faces a potentially tricky path to the quarter-finals, taking on 2011 girls’ champion Ashleigh Barty in her first match, followed by Francesca Schiavone, contesting her final Wimbledon before retirement, 26th seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and then French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Further down the draw, Johanna Konta will also have to embark on a tricky path if she is to achieve her best performance at Wimbledon.

The Brit will, for the second Grand Slam tournament in a row, face Hsieh Su-wei in her first match, and could then face her conqueror in the Nottingham final, Donna Vekic, in the second round.

Konta, who is seeded sixth, also lost to Hsieh in her first match at Roland Garros after wasting three break points against serve in the second set, any of which if she had converted would’ve seen her serve for a straight-sets win.

She could then strike the resurgent Petra Kvitova in the fourth round. The two-time champion is up against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson in her first match, with 21st seed Caroline Garcia her potential third round opponent.

French Open runner-up Simona Halep is the leading name at the bottom of the draw, and she, like many of her top-ten contemporaries, also faces a tough path to a maiden Grand Slam title.

After facing a qualifier in her first match, the Romanian could strike Laura Robson in the second round, Carla Suarez Navarro in the third and then Victoria Azarenka in the fourth.

Azarenka, who has a protected ranking after giving birth shortly before Christmas last year, is up against American CiCi Bellis in her first match. The Belarussian could then face 15th seed Elena Vesnina in the second round.

Barring any major upsets, the quarter-finals onwards could look like this:

Quarter-finals
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER) versus [7] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
[3] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) versus [5] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
[10] Venus Williams (USA) versus [4] Elina Svitolina (GBR)
[11] Petra Kvitova (CZE) versus [2] Simona Halep (ROU)

Semi-finals
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER) versus [3] Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
[10] Venus Williams (USA) versus [11] Petra Kvitova (CZE)

Final
[3] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) versus [11] Petra Kvitova (CZE)

Champion
[11] Petra Kvitova (CZE)

Matches to watch on Day 1
[1] Andy Murray (GBR) versus [LL] Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
[20] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) versus Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)
Daniil Medvedev (RUS) versus [5] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) versus [PR] John Millman (AUS)
[9] Kei Nishikori (JPN) versus Marco Cecchinato (ITA)

[8] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) versus Andrea Petkovic (GER)
Elise Mertens (BEL) versus [10] Venus Williams (USA)
Ashleigh Barty (AUS) versus [4] Elina Svitolina (UKR)
[6] Johanna Konta (GBR) versus Hsieh Su-wei (TPE)
Johanna Larsson (SWE) versus [11] Petra Kvitova (CZE)
[PR] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) versus CiCi Bellis (USA)
[25] Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) versus Eugenie Bouchard (USA)
Qualifier versus [2] Simona Halep (ROU)

Note that the men’s top half and women’s bottom half will start on Monday; the men’s bottom half and women’s top half will play on Tuesday.