Draper draws Fritz in a Wimbledon opener with a champion’s billing
A tie too good for the first round: Jack Draper drew Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon, the returning Englishman against the in-form Stuttgart and Halle finalist, with Draper leading their head-to-head 3-2.
Jack Draper, Eastbourne 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz have been handed each other in the first round of Wimbledon, a blockbuster pairing that ranks among the standout opening-round ties in the men’s draw.
The meeting throws together two players whose seasons have run in opposite directions. Fritz, seed. No. 6, arrives in form, fresh from back-to-back grass finals at Stuttgart and Halle, the latter a run that included a seven-set sweep of Alexander Zverev before he fell to Frances Tiafoe in the title match.
Draper, by contrast, comes in as one of the draw’s most dangerous unseeded names – the Englishman has slipped to No 160 after an injury-hit season but won his comeback match in Eastbourne, and leads their head-to-head 3-2. A first-round tie of this weight is a rarity, and it guarantees a significant casualty before the tournament has properly begun.
Wawrinka – Berrettini first round!
The draw set up its share of heavyweight first-round collisions elsewhere. Stan Wawrinka (wild-card) meets Matteo Berrettini, Marin Cilic faces Daniil Medvedev (No.8), and Casper Ruud (No.11) was paired with former semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner (No.1) opens against Miomir Kecmanovic. Zverev (No.2), the Roland-Garros champion and top seed in this half, begins against Blockx.
At the top of the draw, Sinner is projected towards a quarter-final against Medvedev, having mapped a route through a possible fourth-round meeting with Darderi and a last-eight test against one of Medvedev, Ruud or Tommy Paul.
Novak Djokovic, seeded No.7 to meet Felix Auger-Aliassime (No.3) in the quarter-finals, opens against Yibing Wu and could face Stefanos Tsitsipas as early as the second round, with Andrey Rublev (No.12) or Joao Fonseca (No.24) a potential last-16 obstacle.
The lower half pairs Ben Shelton (No.4) with Alex de Minaur (No?5) in one projected quarter-final and Zverev with Fritz in the other – a rematch the seedings invite barely a week after their Halle semi-final. For the home crowd, the immediate focus is the opener: Draper against Fritz, a tie too good for the first round and a result no one will want to call.
