Highlights from the Wimbledon 2025 First Round Draw

The draw for the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, held at the All England Club on Friday, has set the stage for several compelling first-round encounters right from the start of the tournament.

Defending men`s champion Carlos Alcaraz, currently on a career-best 18-match winning streak and seeking his third consecutive Wimbledon title, will face the seasoned Italian Fabio Fognini in his opening match. On the women`s side, top seed Aryna Sabalenka is set to begin her campaign against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine.

Men`s top seed Jannik Sinner, who was the runner-up to Alcaraz at the recent French Open, will play against fellow Italian Luca Nardi. Six-time champion Novak Djokovic, aiming to equal Roger Federer`s record of eight Wimbledon singles titles, faces a potentially challenging first round against world No. 40 Alexandre Muller.

Barbora Krejcikova, the defending women`s champion and 17th seed, who withdrew from the Eastbourne tournament due to a thigh issue, is drawn against Alexandra Eala from the Philippines.

Second seed Coco Gauff`s initial opponent is Ukraine`s Dayana Yastremska. Jessica Pegula, seeded third and a potential semifinal opponent for Gauff, will start against Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, last year`s runner-up at Wimbledon, is matched against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia and is seeded to potentially meet Sabalenka in the semifinals.

British tennis has a significant presence this year with 23 players in the singles draws, the highest number since 1984. Men`s fourth seed Jack Draper, who has risen rapidly, carries significant home expectations. His path is expected to be tough, starting with 38th-ranked Sebastian Baez. Potential later rounds could see him face former runner-up Marin Cilic or Alexander Bublik.

For Draper to lift the title, his potential route could involve facing Djokovic in the quarterfinals, Sinner in the semifinals, and Alcaraz in the final.

Britain`s top-ranked woman, Emma Raducanu, opens against compatriot Mingge Xu, one of three young British players receiving wild cards into the women`s draw. Should the 2021 US Open champion advance, her second-round opponent could be 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or 32nd seed McCartney Kessler, with a potential third-round clash against Sabalenka looming.

An intriguing potential second-round match could feature Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.

Alcaraz, who prepared for Wimbledon by winning the Queen`s Club title, will need to be cautious against Fabio Fognini, despite the 38-year-old Italian`s record at Wimbledon where he has never progressed past the third round in 14 previous appearances. Following that, Alcaraz could potentially meet British qualifier Oliver Tarvet, the world No. 719, who plays Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi in his first match. Alcaraz`s projected semifinal opponent is third seed Alexander Zverev, who opens against France`s Arthur Rinderknech.

Coco Gauff, fresh off her second major title at the French Open, will start her Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday against Dayana Yastremska, a semifinalist at the 2024 Australian Open.

Should Gauff win her opener, she might face former world No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the second round. A rematch with 28th seed Sofia Kenin could potentially occur in the third round; Kenin defeated Gauff in the first round at Wimbledon two years ago.

Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, who has announced her planned retirement later this year, will play against No. 10 seed Emma Navarro in her first-round match.

As the reigning men`s champion, Carlos Alcaraz has the honor of opening play on Centre Court on Monday. This day typically features the bottom half of the men`s draw and the top half of the women`s draw. Barbora Krejcikova, as the defending women`s champion, will play her first match on Centre Court on Tuesday.