Wimbledon 2022: Top Seeds Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic Get Easy Opening Round Draws

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will face Soonwoo Kwon and Francisco Cerundolo respectively in their men’s singles first round at Wimbledon 2022.

Koushik Paul

Updated on: 24 June 2022 11:14 am

Novak Djokovic trains on Thursday ahead of the Wimbledon 2022 which starts on June 27.

Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic will face Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea while 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal awaits Francisco Cerundolo challenge in their men’s singles first round at Wimbledon 2022, the draw of which happened on Friday. (More Tennis News)

Andy Murray, who is unseeded, have been pitted against Australian James Duckworth in round one and if everything goes well, the Scot could face either Enzo Couacaud or John Isner in the next round.

Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Miami Open and Madrid Open earlier this year, will go up against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka faces Jannik Sinner vs Stan Wawrinka while Nick Kyrgios faces Paul Jubb challenge.

Among the women, Serena Williams will begin her Wimbledon comeback by facing Harmony Tan, a 24-year-old from France who is ranked 113th and owns a 2-6 career record in Grand Slam matches. Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu, who reached the fourth round in the previous edition will play Alison van Uytvanck in a tricky opening match.

If everything goes well, Raducanu could face fellow Brit Lily Miyazaki in the second round. World no.1 Iga Swiatek has been drawn against qualifier Jana Fett. Simona Halep faces Karolina Muchova in the first round.

The placement of Williams in the women's bracket was the most anticipated aspect of Friday's draw at the All England Club. She is making her first appearance in singles at any tournament since she hurt her right leg and stopped playing during the first set of her first-round match at Centre Court a year ago.

Because of her lack of activity over the past 12 months, Williams — who has been No. 1 in the rankings — is outside the WTA's top 1,200 this week and so could have ended up anywhere in the field and against any opponent in the first round.

Williams has won seven Wimbledon championships, part of her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a record for the professional era. Tan, meanwhile, will be making her debut at the grass-court tournament.