The Championships have a habit of turning up fascinating first round clashes and it will be no different this year. Here are five matches which already capture the imagination.
Dominic Thiem [5] v Sam Querrey
The closest Dominic Thiem has come to an official lead-up match on grass heading into his sixth Wimbledon campaign has been cheering on best friend Dennis Novak’s successful qualifying attempt at Roehampton this week.
Following a gruelling Roland-Garros campaign, in which he ended Novak Djokovic’s non-calendar year Grand Slam bid before falling to Rafael Nadal in the final, Thiem will look to improve on a mediocre 5-5 win-loss record at the All England Club when he meets big-serving Sam Querrey first.
The American is best known for his stunning upset of top seed Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon three years ago en route to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final.
He backed it up with a run to the semi-finals in 2017, following a five set defeat of Andy Murray in the last eight. Thiem leads the pair’s head-to-head ledger 3-1 but none of the matches have come on grass.
Fabio Fognini [12] v Frances Tiafoe
Italian Fognini became the oldest man to break into the top 10 for the first time since 1973 in June. It came on the heels of a superb run in Monte Carlo, in which he secured his maiden Masters 1000 title, defeating Nadal along the way.
The 32-year-old, who is expecting his second child with former US Open champion Flavia Pennetta, is aiming to pass the third round at Wimbledon for the first time and will open his campaign against 21-year-old American Frances Tiafoe.
Tiafoe only clinched one of three matches on grass leading in but will draw confidence from having pushed Fognini to five sets on the Italian’s best surface in the first round at Roland-Garros two years ago. Both players reached the third round on the grass last year.
Tomas Berdych v Taylor Fritz
Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych was always going to be one of the most dangerous unseeded floaters in the men’s draw. Fortunately for the seeds, they managed to avoid the big-hitting former world No.4.
Gifted young American Taylor Fritz was not so lucky. The pair have never met but both have games ideally suited to grass with their towering frames unleashing missile serves and heavy, flat blows off the ground.
Last year, Fritz led Alexander Zverev two sets to one in the second round before he fell in five. For Berdych – 12 years Fritz’s senior – it has been a stop-start journey back from an ongoing back injury but the 33-year-old is at home on the lawns at SW19, having reached back-to-back semi-finals in 2016 and 2017 and with a win over Federer en route to the 2010 final.
Novak Djokovic [1] v Philipp Kohlschreiber
The pressure has barely had time to lift on world No.1 Djokovic since his bid for a second non-calendar year Grand Slam came up short in Paris last month. Already it is mounting again as he shifts his focus to defending his fourth Wimbledon title. Twelve months ago, the Serb arrived at the All England Club as the No.12 seed following a horror start to the season.
His ability to dominate the subsequent three majors was nothing short of remarkable. Despite carrying a commanding 10-2 head-to-head record into his opening task against Philipp Kohlschreiber, Djokovic would be well aware of the damage the German veteran can cause.
The 35-year-old Kohlschreiber’s best result at a Grand Slam came at SW19 seven years ago, when he reached the quarter-finals, and he would do well to draw on memories of beating the likes of Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro, Lleyton Hewitt and Tommy Haas on grass.
Alexander Zverev [6] v Jiri Vesely
It was a grim finish for Zverev in his 2018 Wimbledon outing, when the young German capitulated against Latvian Ernests Gulbis from two sets to one up in the third round. A year later, the 21-year-old’s ranking has taken a dip and those hefty expectations to reach second weeks of Grand Slams have eased ever so slightly.
With Ivan Lendl in his corner, the sixth seed managed a quarter-final showing in Paris last month – just the second time he has passed the fourth round at a Grand Slam. But his results on the grass leading in have left a little to be desired and he will meet an opponent who already has three wins at qualifying under his belt.
Left-handed Czech Jiri Vesely’s best Grand Slam results have been a pair of fourth-round appearances at Wimbledon, with a victory over Dominic Thiem in 2016. This will be a first meeting between Zverev and Vesely.
