The Polish star who ended Roger Federer’s glittering career at Wimbledon stands in the path of Alex de Minaur posting a career-best performance at the All England Club over the next fortnight, while Ajla Tomljanovic will renew hostilities with an old rival next week.
The Wimbledon draw, held in London on Friday, threw up a range of fascinating early encounters ahead of the start of the world’s most prestigious tournament on Monday, with ten Australian men and three women among the participants.
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De Minaur, who is Australia’s top-ranked man, will play mercurial Frenchman Corentin Moutet in his opening round match and faces a prospective 4th Rd encounter against Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated the eight-time champion Federer in his final match in 2021.
The Australian, who is seeded No. 9 and won a grass court tournament in the Netherlands earlier this month, could meet seven-time champion Novak Djokovic if he reaches the quarterfinals for the first time, though the Serbian is under a cloud after recent knee surgery.
The 25-year-old has never played Moutet, who is ranked 55 and extended Jannik Sinner to four sets in the 4th Rd of the French Open this month, but the left-hander’s best efforts have come on surfaces other than grass.
Tomljanovic, a dual-Wimbledon quarterfinalist who received a wildcard into this year’s event, will play former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko three years after the pair exchanged angry barbs at the net during a spirited encounter at Wimbledon.
A finalist in Birmingham last week, Tomljanovic accused the Latvian of faking an injury during a 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory over the then world No. 10 during an exchange with the umpire.
After receiving treatment, Ostapenko told her rival; “If you think I am faking, you can talk to the physio”, that her “behaviour is terrible. You have zero respect” and that she was “the worst player on tour”.
Tomljanovic’s response was sharp, telling Ostapenko; “You’re one to talk.”
The hostilities continued in press after the match, with Ostapenko claiming that she would have won had she been 50 percent fit, while the Australian accused her rival of gamesmanship.
“She can say she was injured. I don’t think she was. I think it was a clear reason she wanted to get me off my game. Game-wise, there was nothing wrong with her,” Tomljanovic said.
“I think it is disgraceful behaviour from someone who is a (grand) slam champion. If she was injured, she could have gone about it in a better way.”
The pair most recently met in a second round of the Australian Open this year, with Ostapenko winning a tight three set encounter in a match that was largely civil.
A TOUGH DRAW ON PAPER, BUT WILL REALITY PROVE DIFFERENT
The sharp takeaway from both draws from an Australian perspective is that of the 13 competitors, four will face rivals ranked inside the top 20 in the opening round.
In the men’s ranks, Moutet does have the potential to challenge de Minaur, but the Australian’s excellence on grass suggests he will be too strong in a match to be played on Tuesday as he seeks to progress beyond the fourth round for the first time at Wimbledon.
Dual-Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, who is under a massive injury cloud and has drawn the talented Tomas Machac, 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, exciting Frenchman Arthur Fils and Huraczk are other top-line competitors in de Minaur’s section of the draw.
Auger-Aliassime will play Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening round in a match that, on other surfaces, the Australian would be considered a likely prospect.
But after an encouraging performance at Roland Garros, the South Australian has played only one match on grass this campaign for a win in qualifying at the Queen’s Club. He withdrew from the tournament amid fitness concerns and prefers hard courts and clay to grass.
After a superb performance to qualify, South Australian Alex Bolt faces triple-grand slam finalist Casper Ruud, who is ranked No.8.
On paper it reads as a tough assignment, but the 31-year-old will fancy his chances of an upset against the recent Roland Garros semi-finalist, who is an inferior player on grass when compared to his deeds on clay courts and is yet to play on the surface this summer.
Chris O’Connell faces a challenge against No. 13 seed Taylor Fritz, who is due to play Aleks Vukic in a semi-final in Eastbourne on Friday. The Split-based Sydneysider withdrew from Roland Garros on the eve of his opening round match and has not played since.
In other men’s matches, Vukic faces Austrian Sebastian Ofner and will look to carry the form he has shown at Eastbourne this week through to the All England Club. It is a similar case for Max Purcell, who is also playing a semi-final at Eastbourne on Friday.
The former Wimbledon doubles champion plays Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, who is ranked No. 149 but performed well at Roehampton this week.
Queen’s Club semi-finalist Jordan Thompson will play the 50th-ranked Pavel Kotov and Alexei Popyrin has drawn world No. 84 Thiago Monteiro.
Wimbledon debutants Rinky Hijikata, who has produced a promising grass court swing, and Adam Walton will play Flavio Cobolli and Federico Coria respectively.
GADECKI ADDS YOUTH TO THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S CHARGE
Gold Coast 22-year-old Olivia Gadecki has shaped as one of Australia’s most promising women for a few years and demonstrated her talent and grit when qualifying for Wimbledon for the first time.
The world No. 177 has not enjoyed the smoothest path in professional tennis, with the pandemic delaying her progress, but the powerful right-hander has an opportunity to press her claims at the All England Lawn Tennis Club when she plays fellow qualifier Robin Montgomery, an American ranked 160.
Daria Saville is yet to win a match at grand slam level since resuming from a knee reconstruction at Wimbledon one year ago and faces a tricky challenge against American Payton Stearns, a feisty competitor ranked No. 59.
But the Melburnian will attempt to extend Stearns, who has the highest percentage of matches going to three sets on the women’s tour.
Ostapenko, the No. 13 seed, has won three of her four matches against Tomljanovic, with the other two clashes occurring in Rome in 2021 and Eastbourne two years ago.
The 31-year-old Australian will enter Wimbledon with confidence, though, after an excellent performance in Birmingham, while Ostapenko was an early loser in that tournament and also at Eastbourne this week when beaten by Katie Boulter in straight sets.
WHO THE AUSSIES PLAY
Men
[9] Alex de Minaur (9) V Corentin Moutet (55)
Jordan Thompson (39) V Pavel Kotov (50)
Alexei Popyrin (47) V Thiago Monteiro (84)
Rinky Hijikata (75) V Flavio Cobolli (49)
Chris O’Connell (76) V [13] Taylor Fritz (13)
Aleksandar Vukic (81) V Sebastian Ofner (54)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (92) V [17] Felix Auger-Aliassime (17)
Max Purcell (94) V [Q] Otto Virtanen (149)
Adam Walton (107) V Federico Coria (71)
[Q] Alex Bolt (234) V Casper Ruud (8)
Women
Daria Saville (82) V Payton Stearns (59)
[WC] Ajla Tomljanovic (135) V [13] Jelena Ostapenko (13)
[Q] Olivia Gadecki V [Q] Robin Montgomery