Draws Announced for Wimbledon 2018

The Wimbledon starts on Monday next week and the All England club announced its first round draws this afternoon. It was fairly straight-forward but the most anticipated match will undoubtedly be Stan Wawrinka vs Grigor Dimitrov.

The Swiss star is making his return from injury and his last Grand Slam did not go well. He bowed out in the first round itself at the French Open. His opponent Dimitrov did not fare too well either. He lost in the third round to Fernando Verdasco.

Post the defeat, the Bulgarian announced that he would be taking a sabbatical but has returned in time to play the most coveted Grand Slam of them all. The duo have faced each other six times with Dimitrov holding the edge with four wins to Wawrinka’s two.

Meanwhile defending champion, Roger Federer would be facing Serbian Dusan Lajovic in his first round. Lajovic played well at the French Open, dragging Alexander Zverev to five sets before eventually being beaten by the German.

Home hero, Andy Murray, who is unsure of his Wimbledon participation will be facing the enigmatic Frenchman, Benoit Paire. Two other Frenchmen, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils will be facing each other, in what is expected to be a hotly contested match.

The returning Novak Djokovic will be facing Tennys Sandgren of the USA while Rafael Nadal has been paired against Dudi Sela of Israel. India will be represented by Yuki Bhambri, who is paired against Thomas Fabbiano of Italy.

In the women’s draw, 2017 champion, Garbine Muguruza will be facing home girl, Naomi Broady. Another UK hopeful, Johanna Konta faces Russia’s Vikhlyantseva while Heather Watson will face Belgium’s Flipkens.

World No.1 Simona Halep is up against Japanese Kurumi Nara while former champion, Maria Sharapova will be facing compatriot Diatchenko. Serena Williams, a two-time champion is up against Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus.

The most interesting draw here was the match-up between Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Russian Vera Zvonareva. The German is a former world no.1 while Zvonareva had a highest ranking of 2. She was seen as a talented player but fell by the wayside.