Former world No.1 Andy Murray will get his campaign underway at this year’s Wimbledon championship against France’s Benoit Paire.
The draw for the men’s tournament took place this morning with the Brit also in line to potentially take on Denis Shapovalov in the second round followed by Juan Martin del Potro. Murray is yet to give a conclusive answer about if he will play at the grand slam, which gets underway on Monday. He return to the tour earlier this month from a hip injury, which required surgery in January. He has only played three matches this year, scoring his only win over Stan Wawrinka.
As a result of the draw, top seed Roger Federer has been placed in the same section as Marin Cilic. Meaning that there will no repeat of last year’s final. Should they progress, both men will instead lock horns in the semifinals this year. Federer will start his campaign against Dusan Lajovic. In his section, he could play Lukas Lucko in round two followed by either Ivo Karlovic or Leonardo Mayer. In the last 16 he could get revenge against Borna Coric. The 36-year-old recently lost in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle to Coric. Cilic, who recently defeated Novak Djokovic to win the Fever-Tree Championships, will start against Yoshihito Nishioka.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal will take on Israel’s Dudi Sela in his first round match. The Spaniard is bidding to win the Wimbledon title for the first time since 2010. Mikhael Kukushkin, Marco Cecchinato and Diego Schwartzman could be potential opponents for Nadal during the first week. Alexander Zverev is in his quarter.
Three-time champion Djokovic has been drawn in the same section as Dominic Thiem. Placing the two on a collision course for the fourth round. He will open up against Tennys Sandgren, who is yet to win a main draw match at the tournament. British No.1 Kyle Edmund could be a third round opponent.
Blockbuster first round matches
Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka will take on Grigor Dimitrov in what could be a stunning start to the tournament. Both players have experienced disappointment on the grass this season leading up to Wimbledon. Dimitrov was thrashed in straight sets at Queen’s by Djokovic and Wawrinka lost in Eastbourne to Murray.
Elsewhere, French fans have been gifted with an opening clash between Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet. Daniil Medvedev takes on Coric in what will be a battle of the Next Gen. Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios starts against Denis Istomin.
Projected draw (based on seedings)
Fourth round
Federer-Coric
Querrey-Anderson
Cilic-Raonic
Isner-Dimitrov
Thiem-Djokovic
Kyrgios-A.Zverev
del Potro-Goffin
Schwartzman-NadalQuarter-finals
Federer- Anderson
Cilic – Dimitrov
Thiem – Zverev
del Potro – Nadal
Full draw
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