( CNN ) -- Novak Djokovic 's hopes of winning a second Wimbledon title were boosted Friday when the world No . 1 was drawn in the opposite half of the field from his three main tennis rivals . The Serbian , who triumphed at the grass-court grand slam in 2011 , can not face defending champion Roger Federer , second-ranked Andy Murray or two-time winner Rafael Nadal before the July 7 men 's final . Nadal has been seeded a lowly fifth despite his successful comeback from long-term knee injury , which culminated in a record eighth French Open title this month . He lost in the second round at London 's SW19 a year ago , which turned out to be his last match until February . The 27-year-old faces the prospect of renewing his rivalry with Federer in the quarterfinals , and the winner of that match will possibly face Murray . Murray , last year 's runner-up , is seeded to play France 's world No . 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight . Murray will begin his bid to become Britain 's first male champion since Fred Perry in 1936 when he takes on Benjamin Becker . He defeated the 32-year-old German -- as well as Tsonga -- on the way to winning the title at Queen 's Club on Sunday , having missed the French Open due to injury . Federer , seeded third , will start against Romania 's Victor Hanescu in Monday 's opening matches as he seeks to win his 18th grand slam title and a record eighth Wimbledon crown . Nadal , on a 22-match winning streak , will play 113th-ranked Belgian Steve Darcis in the first round while Djokovic takes on Germany 's Florian Mayer . Djokovic could play world No . 6 Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals ahead of a possible match against Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer -- who could face eighth-ranked Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the last eight . Ferrer reached his first grand slam final at Roland Garros this month , but had no answer to an in-form Nadal -- who had beaten Djokovic in an epic semi encounter . In the Wimbledon women 's draw , defending champion and top seed Serena Williams can not face Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka until the final . The American , who beat Sharapova in the French Open final , could face a rematch of last year 's title match with fourth-ranked Pole Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis . The 31-year-old will first take on Luxembourg 's 77th-ranked Mandy Minella , who lost in the first round last year . Radwanska is drawn to meet China 's former French Open champion Li Na in the last eight . Sharapova , seeded third after dropping below Azarenka in the rankings , having failed to defend her title at Roland Garros , will start against 20-year-old Kristina Mladenovic of France . The Russian , who won the tournament as a 17-year-old in 2004 , is seeded to face Italian No . 5 Sara Errani in the quarterfinals before a possible clash with Azarenka -- who she beat in the Paris semis . Australian Open champion Azarenka , who starts against 112th-ranked Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal , is drawn to play 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova in the last eight .
World No . 1 Novak Djokovic in opposite half of draw from rest of men 's ` ` Big Four '' Rafael Nadal and Phil Taylor could play as early as possible at Wimbledon . The winner of that match could then face last year 's runner - up Andy Murray . Women 's champion Serena Williams in opposite half of draw to Maria Sharapova .