Nasty Wimbledon draw for Tomic, Hewitt

Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic and former champion Lleyton Hewitt have copped nasty draws on an extraordinary day at Wimbledon.

Tomic could face world No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the third round, the earliest he could have possibly struck the Serb after being seeded 27th for the championships.

Hewitt – playing his final tournament at SW19 – will face tough Finn Jarko Nieminen in his opener, with victory almost certainly thrusting the 34-year-old wildcard into a second-round showdown with Djokovic.

Teenage ace Thanasi Kokkinakis has also landed in the treacherous top pocket of the draw with Hewitt and Tomic, who launches his title quest against Frenchman Jan-Lennard Struff.

Kokkinakis plays Argentina’s 24th seed Leonardo Mayer in his eagerly-awaited debut at the All England Club.

All up, nine of Australia’s 11 men in the singles were drawn in the top half.

Nick Kyrgios, the 26th seed, fared best and has a real shot at emulating his run to the quarter-finals last year.

The 20-year-old will play unseeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman first up, with seventh seed Milos Raonic, the Canadian who took him out last year, Kyrgios’s first projected big danger in the third round.

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