The draw for the Wimbledon Championships took place on Friday. Men's defending champion Novak Djokovic discovered his path to a seventh Wimbledon crown as the top seed, with rising Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz looming as a dangerous quarterfinal spoiler.

Unbeaten at Wimbledon in his past 21 matches, the 35-year-old Serbian is in rare territory, without either of the two 2022 Grand Slam events to his name.

The 20-time major champion hasn't played any official matches since falling to his great rival Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros quarterfinal. He can't cross the King of Clay's path until the final and would potentially need to beat No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz, a semifinalist last year, in the last four.

Nadal anchors the bottom half as the second seed and will start his bid for a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam trophy against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, with 2017 finalist Marin Cilic a potential fourth-round opponent.

The Spaniard, who lifted the trophy in 2008 and 2010, is projected to meet Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals. If they both advance that far, it would be a rematch from Roland Garros.

Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas could clash in the other quarterfinal in the bottom half. Last year's runner-up Berrettini, who triumphed on grass in Stuttgart and London this month, opens against Cristian Garin, while fourth-seeded Greek Tsitsipas plays Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard.

On the women's side, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, last year's runner-up Karolina Pliskova, and seven-time title holder Serena Williams are all in the top half of the draw.

Three weeks ago, Swiatek equaled Venus Williams's 35-match winning streak, the longest on the WTA Tour this century. Now the 21-year-old Pole will have the chance to make history when she opens against qualifier Jana Fett, while 2017 champion Garbine Muguruza has landed in a stacked section also containing major winners Bianca Andreescu and Sloane Stephens.

Serena is making her grand slam return in London after spending the last 12 months trying to regain her fitness.

The 23-time grand slam winner took part in the doubles competition in Eastbourne but has not played singles yet, with French debutant Harmony Tan providing the opposition in the first round of the tournament proper. Former champions Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep await the 40-year-old American.

The bottom half of the draw features recent Berlin champion and No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur, home favorite and No. 10 seed Emma Raducanu, Greek No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari, and in-form pair Belinda Bencic and Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Meanwhile, Chinese rising star Zheng Qinwen, two-time doubles major winner Zhang Shuai and former world No. 12 Wang Qiang lead six Chinese players into the women's singles main draw.

Chinese players' first-round matches

Zheng Qinwen vs Sloane Stephens

Zhang Shuai vs Elena Rybakina

Wang Qiang vs Belinda Bencic

Wang Xinyu vs Amanda Anisimova

Zhu Lin vs Yanina Wickmayer

Wang Xiyu vs Jule Niemeier

(With input from ATP, WTA and Wimbledon officials)