A last-16 hot date at Wimbledon? Demon's not Djok-ing
Alex de Minaur has been put on a collision course to face Novak Djokovic in the last 16 at Wimbledon after the draw threw up the intriguing prospect of the pair enjoying the duel that got away last year.
The duo were scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals in 2024, but de Minaur had to pull out with a hip injury he had suffered at the end of his last-16 match against Arthur Fils.
This year they are due to meet in the fourth round, if de Minaur negotiates a fairly kind-looking route, up against Spanish clay-court battler Roberto Carballes Baena in his opener and possibly meeting fellow Aussie Adam Walton in the second round if the Queenslander can beat French qualifier Arthur Cazaux first-up.
De Minaur looks the best hope among the 17-strong Australian singles battalion at Wimbledon, the biggest green-and-gold contingent at a single Championships for 30 years.
Talia Gibson, the 21-year-old from Perth who saved a match point in her final qualifying round before progressing to her first Wimbledon, has been handed perhaps the biggest glamour draw against Naomi Osaka, the four-time grand slam champ from Japan who in May won her first tournament since her return from a maternity break.
Priscilla Hon, another Aussie who saved match points on Thursday en route to her maiden Wimbledon appearance, also has a tough task, up against 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Maya Joint, the US-born teenager who's enjoying another breakthrough week by reaching her first grass-coiurt semi-final at Eastbourne, has been handed a tough opener against Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the 19th seed who reached the semi-finals at the Berlin Open last week.
In her first Wimbledon representing Australia, Daria Kasatkina, the 16th seed, should beat Colombian Emiliana Arango in the opening round, while Alex Bolt's daunting reward for getting through qualifying to make his fourth main-draw appearance will be a brutal examination from American 10th seed Ben Shelton.
One intriguing tennis "Ashes'' clash will see 20th seed Alexei Popyrin tackling British wildcard Arthur Fery.
Men's champion Carlos Alcaraz kicks off his title defence against the old Italian swashbuckler Fabio Fognini, and world No.1 Jannik Sinner plays on Tuesday against fellow Italian Luca Nardi.
Women's champion Barbora Krejcikova, currently looking an injury doubt, opens her defence on Tuesday on Centre Court against Flilipino Alexandra Eala, and top seed Aryna Sabalenka starts against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine.
WHO THE AUSTRALIANS FACE IN WIMBLEDON FIRST ROUND (prefix number denotes seeding) (Q = qualifier) (WC = wildcard)
MEN
(11) Alex de Minaur v Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)
(20) Alexei Popyrin v (WC) Arthur Fery (GBR)
Jordan Thompson v Vit Kopriva (CZE)
Aleksandar Vukic v Chun-Hsin Tseng (TPE)
Rinky Hijikata v David Goffin (BEL)
Chris O'Connell v (Q) Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
Adam Walton v (Q) Arthur Cazaux (FRA)
James Duckworth v (25) Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
James McCabe (Q) v Fabian Marozsan (HUN)
Alex Bolt (Q) v (10) Ben Shelton (USA)
WOMEN
(16) Daria Kasatkina v Emiliana Arango (COL)
Kim Birrell v (22) Donna Vekic (CRO)
Maya Joint v (19) Liudmila Samsonova (RUS)
Ajla Tomljanovic v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Olivia Gadecki v Greet Minnen (BEL)
Talia Gibson (Q) v Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Priscilla Hon (Q) v (18) Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS)
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