LONDON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Spain's Carlos Alcaraz will start his title defence at Wimbledon with a first-round tie against qualifier Mark Lajal of Estonia, the draw for the grass-court Grand Slam revealed on Friday.
Alcaraz, 21, defeated Serbia's Novak Djokovic in a five-set battle in the final last year. This year, he arrived at the All England Club with another major trophy on hand, after having triumphed at French Open for the first time.
Lajal, also 21, has no Grand Slam main draw experience so far, having edged Australia's James Duckworth in the third qualification round to gain access to the tournament proper.
24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic will face the Czech Republic's Vit Kopriva in the opening round, while Italy's world No. 1 Jannik Sinner will play German veteran Yannick Hanfmann.
China's Zhang Zhizhen, seeded 32nd, will lock horns with French qualifier Maxime Janvier in the first round, while his teenage compatriot Shang Juncheng is slated to face former world top 20 player Cristian Garin of Chile.
In the women's singles, five-time Grand Slam champion and world No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland could face a strong challenge from former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in her first match.
Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova's first opponent is Spain's Jessica Maneiro, while two-time runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia is to play Japan's Moyuka Uchijima.
China's eighth seed Zheng Qinwen will face qualifier Lulu Sun of New Zealand. Zheng's best result at Wimbledon was a third-round finish in 2022. The Chinese has enjoyed a fast-track rise since turning pro in 2022, reaching the quarterfinals in last year's US Open before advancing to the final of this year's Australian Open. ■
