Serena handed kind Wimbledon draw
● Seven-time champion faces Rus in first round, while Federer will open title defence against Lajovic
Serena Williams avoided any early match-ups against opponents with success to speak of at Wimbledon in a draw that could put her against No 5 seed Elina Svitolina in the third round.
Williams is returning to the grass-court tournament for the first time since 2016 after missing it last year while pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter in September.
She is ranked outside the top 150, but the All England Club decided to seed her 25th based on past success, which includes collecting seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles trophies at Wimbledon. Williams’ first-round opponent when play begins on Monday will be 107th-ranked Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, who has one career tour title.
Williams is competing for the first time since she pulled out of the French Open ahead of a fourth-round showdown with Maria Sharapova in early June, citing an injured chest muscle. That was Williams’ return to Grand Slam action after a 16-month absence.
Rus has only once been as far as Wimbledon’s third round, back in 2012. She was beaten in the first round of qualifying a year ago, as were both of the women Williams could meet in the second round, qualifier Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria and wild-card recipient Tereza Smitkova of the Czech Republic.
Svitolina, Williams’ potential third-round opponent, has only once been as far as the fourth round.
In the fourth round she could face Madison Keys, who has made one quarterfinal appearance, while the 36-year-old American’s potential quarter-final foe, reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, has never been beyond the fourth round.
Williams could meet her older sister, five-time champion and 2017 runner-up Venus, in the semi-finals.
The potential men’s quarter-finals in the top half of the draw are eight-time champion Roger Federer vs Kevin Anderson, and Marin Cilic against Grigor Dimitrov. In the bottom half of the bracket, it could be two-time Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal against Juan Martin del Potro, and Alexander Zverev vs Dominic Thiem.
Top seed Federer’s opening opponent on Monday will be Dusan Lajovic of Serbia. Their only previous meeting anywhere came in Wimbledon’s second round last year, when Federer won in straight sets en route to the title. Nadal faces Dudi Sela of Israel on Tuesday. The Spaniard has won both of their previous encounters.
Nadal’s preparations for Wimbledon concluded yesterday with a narrow straightsets defeat by France’s Lucas Pouille in an exhibition match at Hurlingham.
The world No 1 lost 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 but demonstrated signs of the quality he will rely on at SW19, particularly when recovering from three break points down early on in the first set. He was broken twice in the second against the world’s 20th-ranked player, the second time at 6-5 down to ensure defeat.