Novak Djokovic will play Wimbledon; he will have a comfortable debut

Novak Djokovic, who underwent surgery on his right meniscus three weeks ago, will finally participate in Wimbledonwhose draw was held this Friday and where Carlos Alcaraz, world number 3, fell on the side of the draw of number 1, Jannik Sinner.

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This makes Alcaraz unable to face Djokovic (number 2), the player he defeated in last year’s final at the All England Club, to an eventual final.

The draw was kind to ‘Djoko’, who initially would have a quiet first week, although eventually conditioned by the state of his knee.

In the last training sessions, including the one on Thursday on the central court of the London complex against Sinner, the sensations were positive for Djokovic and the good news came early Friday morning with his inclusion in the draw.

The 37-year-old Serbian, who is aiming for an eighth title on the Wimbledon grass to raise his record of Grand Slam titles to 25, was injured against the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo in the round of 16 at Roland Garros. He won that match, but then quit before his scheduled quarterfinal match.

He underwent surgery in Paris on the right medial meniscus and his options for being in this Wimbledon At first, they seemed minimal. Last Tuesday, he said that he would only participate in the tournament if he felt he was in a position to “fight for the title.”

His first match will be against the Czech Vit Kopriva, 123rd in the world and coming from the qualifying rounds. He should not have a major opponent until an eventual round of 16 against Holger Rune o Karen Khachanov.

In the quarterfinals his theoretical rival would be the Polish Hubert Hurkacz and in the semifinals the German Alexander Zverev, recent runner-up at Roland Garros.

Alcaraz, who will start in the tournament against the Estonian Mark Lajal (262nd), would not be his rival until the final. The young Spaniard gave the surprise last year by winning a memorable five-set fight last year, then ending a streak of 34 consecutive matches won by Djokovic at Wimbledon.

Another unexpected and emblematic presence will be that of former British world number 1 Andy Murray, who underwent surgery for a cyst in his spine last week.

His warrior mentality once again won out over his physical problems and the 37-year-old Scot, who is close to retirement, will be at Wimbledon to say goodbye to a tournament he won twice (2013, 2016).

His opponent in the first round will be the Czech Tomas Machac (38th in the world).

Playing since 2019 with a metal hip, Murray will retire in principle after the Olympic Games.

THE WTA DRAW IN WIMBLEDON, VERY OPEN

In the women’s tournament, where only Serena Williams has entered her name twice in the list of winners in the last ten years (2015 and 2016), the predictions seem very open.

Almost unbeatable on clay and dangerous on hard courts, world number 1 Iga Swiatek seems less fearsome on grass: she has never made it past the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in four appearances.

This year, she will also have a difficult debut, against the American Sofia Kenin (48th and champion of the Australian Open in 2020), before potentially having to face the last two Wimbledon champions: Marketa Vondrousova (2023) in the quarter-finals and Elena Rybakina (2022) in the semi-finals.

The other theoretical women’s semi-final would pit the winner of the last US Open, Coco Gauff, against the winner of the last Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka.

The current double runner-up Ons Jabeur will have a route full of traps from the third round, where she could face the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, a semi-finalist last year. Then she could expect world number 5 Jessica Pegula in the round of 16, Rybakina in the quarterfinals and Swiatek or Vondrousova in the semifinals.

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