Djokovic to face Cachin in his Wimbledon opener

LONDON: Defending women’s singles champion Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan will face American Shelby Rogers in the opening round at Wimbledon while men’s second seed Novak Djokovic will begin his title defence against 67th-ranked Pedro Cachin of Argentina.

Friday’s draw at the All England Club pitched women’s top seed Iga Swiatek against the 33rd-ranked Zhu Lin of China, a potentially tricky first hurdle for the Pole.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who could not play last year because of Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players, will open her campaign against Hungarian Panna Udvardy.

Veteran Venus Williams’s contest against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in one of the standout matches of the first round while home favourite Andy Murray, bidding for an unlikely third men’s title at the age of 36, will play British wildcard Ryan Peniston.

Murray could face fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round and for that, the Greek first must get past Dominic Thiem, who has tumbled down the rankings.

Djokovic, who has won the last four men’s singles titles at Wimbledon and is bidding to match Roger Federer’s eight crowns, is not the top seed this year, having been replaced at the summit of the rankings by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, who warmed up by winning the title at Queen’s Club, faces a tricky opener against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev will return to Wimbledon with a first-round match against British wildcard Arthur Fery.

The quarter-finals, if the seeds progress, would see Alcaraz up against sixth seed Holger Rune with Medvedev up against Tsitsipas. Djokovic could face the seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev with fourth seed Casper Ruud potentially facing Jannik Sinner.