Wimbledon 2023: who is Novak Djokovic’s next opponent? Jordan Thompson career highlights and ranking explained

Novak Djokovic, the Wimbledon Championship favourite, is through to the second round of the British Grand Slam after securing a straight set win over the Argentinian player Pedro Cachin.

Although seeded second, with Carlos Alcaraz in first, the Serbian former world number one is by far the heavy favourite to lift the Wimbledon trophy as he seeks to record a 24th Grand Slam. The 36-year-old has not lost a match in SW19 since 2017 and has won the past four consecutive titles.

If he is able to claim a fifth consecutive title in ten days time, he will be one step closer to winning the first men’s calendar Slam since Rod Laver accomplished it in 1969. While three women have achieved it (Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf), only two men have done it before with Don Budge being the first to do so in 1938.

However, at the moment the Australian Jordan Thompson is standing in his way. Here is all you need to know about the 29-year-old from Sydney...

When is Djokovic vs Thompson?

The two players will come face-to-face on Centre Court later today, Wednesday 5 July, with the match scheduled to start at 4pm BST although this time is subject to change depending on the length of the previous matches.

How to watch Wimbledon 2023?

The BBC will have all of the coverage from Wimbledon with the programme starting at 9.30am each day of play on BBC One. Head to our article on How to Watch Wimbledon to find out more about live stream details and highlights shows.

Who is Jordan Thompson?

Born in Sydney, Thompson turned professional in 2013 and is currently ranked number 71 in the ATP standings. He has previously enjoyed a high of 43, a feat achieved in July 2019, but is yet to win his first ATP career title.

On three occasions he has reached his home Slam’s second round but has reached the third round of both the French Open and Wimbledon as well as achieving his best run in a Grand Slam at the 2020 US Open where he was knocked out in the round of 16.

In 2023, Thompson recorded his second top-10 win when he beat the second see Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open and the 29-year-old right-handed then went on to reach only his second ever ATP final when he defeated compatriot Rinky Hijikata at the 2023 Libema Open.

The 29-year-old beat America’s Brandon Nakashima in a thrilling five set match to reach the second round. Despite going 6-2 6-2 down, Thompson came back to steal the final sets 6-4 7-6 6-3.

Thompson vs Djokovic head-to-head

This will be the first time the two tennis players have met competitively although the odds are firmly in favour of Djokovic who has 94 ATP career titles, including 24 Grand Slams, compared to Thompson’s zero.

What has Jordan Thompson said?

“Playing Novak is the toughest task in tennis at the moment. I know you have Rafa (Nadal) at Roland Garros. I’ve played him in Paris and that was incredibly tough, but this is up there. You can look at his records and his stats. It’s unbelievable. He has 23 Slams. The odds are firmly in his favour.

“I always said if you don’t believe you can win, you shouldn’t go out in the court, so as silly as it sounds, I have got to believe I can win, otherwise there’s no point. I’ll do everything I can. I know that he’s arguably the best player of all time and I am definitely going to have to play the match of my life if I want to win.”