Top 2 ranked ATP players set to miss Wimbledon for the first time ever, as Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are ruled out from 2022 edition

In a first for the Wimbledon Championships, the top 2 players in the ATP rankings will both miss out on the iconic Grand Slam event. World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and World No. 2 Alexander Zverev have both been confirmed to be ruled out of this year's edition.

Since the ATP rankings were first introduced in 1973, at least one of the top 2 ranked players at the time has always played at Wimbledon. The absence of Medvedev and Zverev this year thus breaks a 49-year-long streak.

World No. 3 Novak Djokovic is expected to take the top seeding at Wimbledon this year. Rafael Nadal, who earned the No. 4 spot in the rankings after his French Open victory, will be the second seed if he is declared fit to play.

Medvedev, the top-ranked male player in the world, is one of the players affected by the All England Club's (AEC) decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the 2022 edition.

The Russian recently returned to the summit of the rankings. He dethroned Djokovic from the top spot, who slipped to No. 3 in the rankings following his quarterfinal loss to Nadal at the French Open.

As a result of the ban on players from Russia and Belarus, the ATP and WTA decided to strip Wimbledon 2022 of ranking points.

Meanwhile, Zverev - who on Monday became World No. 2 for the first time in his career - has been ruled out of the grasscourt Major due to injury. Zverev suffered a serious ankle injury during the French Open semifinal against Nadal, and has just undergone surgery.

"We all have our own journey in life," Zverev said in a statement last week. "This is part of mine. Next week I'll reach a career-high ranking of number 2 in the world, but this morning I had to undergo surgery."

Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer in 2015 - the last time the ATP top 2 made the Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at The Championships

It has been seven years since the world's two highest ranked male players played the Wimbledon singles final. With the absence of Medvedev and Zverev this year, that streak is set to extend into the 2023 season.

Back in 2015, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the top two players in the ATP rankings, contested the Wimbledon final. Djokovic defeated Richard Gasquet and Federer beat Andy Murray in the semifinals to reach the summit clash.

Djokovic bagged the opening set tiebreak to take the lead in the final. He and Federer then played another enthralling tiebreak in the second set, where the Swiss saved seven set points to win 12-10 and tie the match at one set apiece.

Djokovic, however, stormed back to bag the next two sets and win the match 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3, thus securing his third Wimbledon trophy.