Wimbledon 2023: Popcorn matches from the men's singles draw

June 30, 2023

Andy Murray, ATP Tennis Players, British Tennis Players, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tennis News, Wimbledon

Wimbledon 2023: Popcorn matches from the men’s singles draw

The men’s singles draw for Wimbledon 2023 has officially taken place and there are some blockbuster matches to look forward to!

Here are five of the matches that we at Tennishead are most excited about:

Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) vs Dominic Thiem

The standout match from the Wimbledon 2023 men’s singles draw involves two former top 3 players in Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem.

Things have changed a lot since Thiem was at the top of the sport, with the Austrian falling outside the world’s top 300 last year after undergoing wrist surgery.

However, the 29-year-old has muscled his way back inside the top 100 and will be looking to challenge the out-of-form Tsitsipas.

The Greek has won only one of his four grass court matches this year, and despite winning the title in Mallorca last year has never surpassed the fourth round at Wimbledon before.

It is a similar story for Thiem, who achieved his best result at SW19 back in 2017 when he reached the last-16 and does not have much pedigree on grass.

Tsitsipas and Thiem have played on nine previous occasions, with the Austrian getting the slight upper hand, however Tsitsipas won their most recent meeting in Madrid last year.

The pair have never played against each other on a grass court before, with their highest stakes meeting coming in the final of the ATP Finals back 2019.

Andy Murray vs Ryan Peniston (WC)

That brings us nicely onto our next match, as the winner of Tsitsipas and Thiem will face the victor of the battle of Britain when two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray comes up against his compatriot Ryan Peniston.

Although Murray did not achieve his goal of a seeded ranking, the former No.1 is likely to be pleased with his first round draw against his No.267 ranked opponent.

However he will not take his fellow Brit lightly, as Peniston had a major impact on the British grass court season last year, beating the likes of Casper Ruud, Francisco Cerundolo and Holger Rune to reach the quarter-finals of both Queen’s and Eastbourne.

GB's Ryan Peniston has knocked out No.1 seed Casper Ruud at Queens! ?

Amazing!

? ? Watch Queens live on @BBCTwo and @BBCiPlayer
? https://t.co/GWq0FJdrWG #BBCTennis pic.twitter.com/JUbwebGBOZ

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 14, 2022

It is a second Grand Slam main draw appearance for Peniston, who won his first round match last year before losing to Steve Johnson.

On the contrast, it is an impressive 15th Wimbledon appearance for Murray, who will play against Peniston for the first time on Tuesday.

Nick Kyrgios (30) vs David Goffin (WC)

There is an intriguing contest sitting in the bottom half of the draw, as last year’s Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios makes his highly anticipated return to SW19 against two-time quarter-finalist David Goffin.

It is not only a return to Wimbledon for Kyrgios, but also the continuation of his return to tennis as a whole with the Australian only playing one match this year after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove a cyst from his knee.

Kyrgios’ only match this year came on the grass of Stuttgart, where he struggled to a straight sets defeat to Wu Yibing and consequently withdrew from events in Halle and Mallorca.

Be patient with me my fans please…. It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 13, 2023

The 30th seed will face a tricky test against Goffin, who has the most recent victory in their head-to-head.

Matteo Berrettini vs Lorenzo Sonego

On the topic of struggling former Wimbledon finalists, Matteo Berrettini will return to the grass major for the first time since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 final.

Like Kyrgios, the former No.6 has struggled for fitness and not have enjoyed seeing his first round opponent of fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who beat a tearful Berrettini only three weeks ago in Stuttgart.

Berrettini and Sonego’s only other meeting on the ATP tour also came in Stuttgart in 2022, with the former getting the better of Sonego in this occasion as he went onto win the title.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (31) vs Arthur Fils (WC)

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will have his hands full when he plays against exciting French wildcard Arthur Fils, as the pair draw each other for the second consecutive major tournament.

It will be a third Wimbledon main draw appearance for Davidovich Fokina, who will want to put last year’s Championships to the back of his mind after receiving a point penalty on match point for hitting the ball out of the court in his five set tussle with Jiri Vesely.

For Fils it is only the second Grand Slam main draw appearance of his career, with the youngster receiving a wildcard after making major breakthroughs on the ATP tour this year to move inside the world’s top 60.

As mentioned, the only previous meeting came at Fils’ home Grand Slam of Roland Garros, however it was the Spaniard who came out on top in four sets.