Wimbledon 2017 men's, women's draws released
The men's and women's draw for Wimbledon 2017 were released on Friday in London. The tournament begins three days later on Monday, July 3 and will be played until July 16.
World No. 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber are the top seeds of the men's and women's tournaments, respectively. Murray is the defending champion and he will start his title defense against a qualifier or lucky loser, while 2016 finalist Kerber will open against a qualifer.
After winning the Australian Open and skipping the clay court season, Federer is considering a top favorite to win the tournament—he will open his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Nadal, who won the French Open title earlier this month and missed Wimbledon last year due to a wrist injury, will start off against Australia's John Millman. Novak Djokovic, who lost in the third round last year to Sam Querrey, will open against Martin Klizan.
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On the women's side, No. 3 seed Karolina Pliskova will start against Russia's Evgeniya Rodina, while five-time champion Venus Williams will make her 20th appearance at Wimbledon against Belgium's Elise Mertens. 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova opens against Johanna Larsson. Returning to her first Grand Slam since returning from maternity leave, Victoria Azarenka will face American CiCi Bellis in the opening round.
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The projected men's quarterfinals are Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka, Nadal vs. Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic vs. Federer, and Dominic Thiem vs. Novak Djokovic. The projected women's quarterfinals are Kerber vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Pliskova vs. Caroline Wozniacki, Dominika Cibulkova vs. Elina Svitolina and Johanna Konta vs. Simona Halep.
With defending women's champion Serena Williams not present to protect her title, Kerber will be given her spot to open the tournament on Centre Court on Tuesday. The women's bottom half of the draw and the men's top half will start the tournament on Monday, with the women's top half and men's bottom half of the draw beginning on Tuesday.
