Djoker top men’s seed for Wimbledon in absence of Medvedev, Zverev

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic will head into next week’s tournament as the men’s top seed with Russian world number one Daniil Medvedev banned from taking part while Germany’s secondranked Alexander Zverev is out injured.

Organisers of the grasscourt Grand Slam have banned players from Russia and Belarus from playing at this year’s Wimbledon following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a ‘special operation’. Zverev had surgery on torn ligaments in his right ankle this month after he was forced to retire from his French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal. Djokovic, who was unable to defend his 2021 Australian Open title and the 2,000 ranking points he earned due to his non-vaccinated status against COVID-19, recently lost his world number one spot to Medvedev.

The Serbian, who has won the last three editions of the grasscourt major, will slip further down the rankings after Wimbledon as he will lose another 2,000 points with the ATP and WTA stripping the tournament of points. The absence of Medvedev and Zverev means Nadal, who is halfway through a possible calendar year Slam after winning the Australian and French Open titles, to be seeded second.