Jannik Sinner will begin his Wimbledon title defense from the top of the men’s singles draw after the ATP rankings locked in the seedings for the grass-court Grand Slam.
Sinner is the No. 1 seed, followed by Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the top eight. Wimbledon abandoned its own grass-court seeding formula in 2021 and now seeds the men’s draw directly off the ATP rankings, confirmed by the All England Club using the list as of June 22.
The seedings create a sharp contrast at the top. Sinner arrives as the defending champion and the clear world No. 1, while Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, enters as only the No. 7 seed — a position that, once the draw is made on June 26, could place the Serbian in a quarterfinal against one of the top four.
The top eight men’s Wimbledon seeds are:
- Jannik Sinner
- Alexander Zverev
- Felix Auger-Aliassime
- Ben Shelton
- Alex de Minaur
- Taylor Fritz
- Novak Djokovic
- Daniil Medvedev
The Alcaraz factor. The biggest reason the seedings diverge from the broader rankings picture is the absence of Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard withdrew from Wimbledon with a wrist injury, removing one of the sport’s defining names from the draw and pushing every player behind him up a place on the seed list.
For Sinner, the No. 1 seeding confirms his status as the man everyone is chasing at the All England Club. The Italian won his first Wimbledon title last year by beating Alcaraz in the final, ending the Spaniard’s reign as two-time defending champion and claiming the most significant grass-court title of his career. The question now is whether Sinner can carry the weight of returning not as the hunter but as the player holding the trophy.
Zverev takes the No. 2 seed after a season that included his breakthrough Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. His position at the opposite end of the draw from Sinner gives Wimbledon a clean top-line structure, with the two anchoring separate halves.
The middle of the order. The most notable names sit just below. Auger-Aliassime is seeded No. 3 and Shelton No. 4, shielding both from the very top names until the later rounds. For Shelton, it is another marker of his climb into the elite tier, reinforced by strong grass-court form in the buildup. De Minaur and Fritz come in at No. 5 and No. 6, two players whose games translate to grass for different reasons — de Minaur through speed, low error counts and court coverage, Fritz through a heavy serve and flat, low-margin groundstrokes built for short points.
Draw math. Djokovic at No. 7 is the number that will draw the most attention. Seeding does not alter his record at the All England Club, but it changes the arithmetic. Rather than the protection of a top-four seed, he could be drawn into a quarter led by Sinner, Zverev, Auger-Aliassime or Shelton, narrowing the runway in his pursuit of a record 25th major. Medvedev rounds out the top eight; his grass results have never matched his hard-court ceiling, but his serve, deep return position and disruptive rhythm still make him an awkward best-of-five assignment.
The draw on June 26 will set the real danger points. For now, the seedings already hand Wimbledon its first storyline of the fortnight: Sinner as the marked man, Djokovic in an unusually exposed seventh, and a younger tier handed a clearer line of sight to both..
