How Novak Djokovic's Wimbledon draw has fallen apart after second round
Novak Djokovic, the 37-year-old tennis great from Serbia, entered Wimbledon as the second seed. He booked his place in the third round of the tournament with wins over Vit Kopriva and Jacob Fearnley in his first two matches.
Djokovic will next play against Alexei Popyrin of Australia in the third round. The Serb had initially gotten a reasonably tough draw at the start of the tournament. However, his path to an eighth Wimbledon title has become considerably easier after the first few days.
Seeds have fallen in Djokovic's half of draw:
Neither of the top two youngsters, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, have been drawn alongside the Serb inside the same half of the draw. It means that Djokovic will not face either of them before the final.
Moreover, a couple of seeded players in the Serb's side of the draw have lost in the second round to make the latter's job easier. 30th Seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, who had given the Serb a stiff fight before losing in five sets at the French Open, lost to Popyrin in the second round. Hence, the 24-time Grand Slam champion should have an easier task in the next round.
More importantly, seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland had to give a walkover to Arthur Fils of France in the fourth set of their second-round match. Hurkacz is a former semifinalist at Wimbledon and his big serve and volleying skills are great assets to have on grass.
The Pole would have been a potential opponent of the Serb's in the quarterfinals. However, with both him and Etcheverry out of the tournament, Djokovic should be a much relieved man. He might still have to face 15th seed Holger Rune of Denmark and fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in the fourth round and the semifinal, respectively.
Still, the Serb will have to deal with easier opponents than expected in the third round and quarterfinal, respectively. This means that he might remain fresher for his potential clashes with the likes of Rune, Zverev, Alcaraz or Sinner. That gives him a good chance of winning those battles to ensure his 25th Grand Slam title. Rune has not been in great form of late and grass is statistically Zverev's weakest surface.
As great as Djokovic is as a player, he will need a rub of the green to win a Grand Slam at this age. It seems that the stars have started to align themselves to make his path to glory easier. It remains to be seen whether he is able to take advantage of the weakened field to become the oldest player to win Wimbledon in the Open Era.