‘Big 4’ draw tops seeds at Wimbledon

The 31-year-old has also won the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open, and the Madrid Open during his winning streak.

So this takes us back to Federer, Nadal and Djokovic – the first, second and joint third favourites – who collectively hold 45 Grand Slam successes between them.

The draw does mean we could see a repeat of the greatest Wimbledon final of all time from 2008 when Nadal beat Federer, and the odds are on those two to meet again.

Novak Djokovic, three times a Wimbledon victor, won on grass at Eastbourne on Saturday, but the Serb has endured the worst run of his career over the last 12 months, while French Open champion Rafael Nadal hasn’t been past the fourth round at the All England Club since 2011. “He can play himself into shape hopefully for week two”. She has yet to win a grand slam, but having reached two finals already in her career, this could be a case of third time lucky.

Nadal admitted his feelings as “impossible to describe” in post-match interviews.

With perhaps the world’s best tennis career as part of his background, the 35-year-old has decided that dirt matches tend to interfere with his all-important annual grass preparation.

Andy Murray is the top-ranked men’s player in the world but it hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for the defending Wimbledon champion.

“In terms of the money we have taken, nobody outside the big four has taken much money – even Djokovic we have not seen too much – but it is focused on those four”.

However, there are other contenders looking to end the quartet’s stranglehold. It is his potential quarterfinal clash against Raonic that could pose the biggest threat because Milos beat him past year in the semis. I have now given myself the best chance for grass. Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried-Tsonga is seeded 12th and Gael Monfils is named the 15th seed. That includes Rafael Nadal (against John Millman), Stan Wawrinka (against Daniil Medvedev) and Marin Cilic (against Philipp Kohlschreiber) among the men, and Venus Williams (vs. Elise Mertens), Petra Kvitova (vs. Johanna Larsson) and Jelena Ostapenko (vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich) among the women.

He reached the semifinals previous year but he will be looking to win a record eighth title at SW19 and first since 2012. Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki and Elina Svitolina all have a shot to overtake her at Wimbledon. However, she may not be match fit after pulling out of Aegon International Eastbourne with an abdominal injury. Raonic had defeated Federer during last year’s semi-final before losing to eventual victor Andy Murray in the final. When Djokovic arrived in England previous year, he had all four Grand Slam titles in his possession, but the Serb has fallen flat since. “I have still the next months where I have big tournaments”. Maria Sharapova and Sloane Stephens are recovering from injury missing the grass court season.

Murray’s coach, Ivan Lendl, brushed off concerns that the Scot might not be fit, responding with a “not at all” when asked if he was anxious about the physical state of the champion. If he manages to achieve such a thing he will become the player with the highest number of Wimbledon trophies. “And I did that five times”.

She made her debut on June 28 1997, aged just 17 and ranked No.59 in the world.

The German, 29, plays Irina Falconi of the United States in her opening match.

Those that succeed at SW19 will certainly be in the money. But the Swiss Master has been drawn in an extremely challenging half that features the likes of Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem and Dominic Thiem.