JACK DRAPER has his work cut out to make a deep run at Wimbledon after a tough draw for the British players today.

The 23-year-old goes into the tournament as a genuine title contender for the first time after climbing to fourth in the world rankings and will take on Argentinian Sebastian Baez in the opening round.

But from there things are set to get significantly tougher with former finalist Marin Cilic a likely second-round opponent and Alexander Bublik, the player he lost to in the fourth round of the French Open and who won the big grass-court warm-up event in Halle last weekend, his first scheduled seeded rival in the third round.

Eight-time champion Novak Djokovic, who has made the final in every edition since 2017, could be waiting in the quarter-finals, with world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is in the bottom half of the draw and will open the tournament on Centre Court on Monday against veteran Italian Fabio Fognini.

Emma Raducanu will take on 17-year-old wild card Mimi Xu, one of three home teenage debutants, in an eye-catching opening round.

The former US Open champion reached the fourth round last year but faces an uphill battle to do so again, with top seed Aryna Sabalenka and former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova both in her section.

It was a nightmare draw for the leading British women, with Katie Boulter — unseeded this year — taking on top-10 star Paula Badosa, while British number three Sonay Kartal faces 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko.

Sixteen-year-olds Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic also drew seeds, with the former facing former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Stojsavljevic meeting Ashlyn Krueger.

The bottom quarter of the women’s event could throw up some big-hitting contests in the second week with Iga Swiatek potentially facing a fourth-round clash against former champion Elena Rybakina and a quarter-final with second seed Coco Gauff, having dropped to eighth in the rankings.

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, meanwhile, will take on exciting Filipino teenager Alexandra Eala in the opening round, provided the Czech recovers from a leg injury in time.

There is also an all-British contest in the first round of the men’s draw, with veteran Dan Evans facing fellow wild card Jay Clarke.

The winner of that is likely to get a shot at Djokovic while 21-year-old Oliver Tarvet, who came through qualifying to make it 23 British players in the main singles draws, has the carrot of a second-round meeting with Alcaraz if he can beat Leandro Riedi.

British number two Jacob Fearnley will try to get a first win against hot Brazilian prospect Joao Fonseca while Cameron Norrie takes on veteran Roberto Bautista Agut, who performed strongly at Queen’s Club.

Hull’s Johannus Monday was given the toughest draw of the British debutants on the men’s side against 13th seed Tommy Paul, while Jack Pinnington Jones will take on Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry and Oliver Crawford faces Mattia Bellucci of Italy.