Wimbeldon: Andy Murray meets Ryan Peniston in the first round
The two-time former champion managed to avoid a seeded spot and will be the heavy favorite to beat wildcard Peniston, who sits at No. 267.
It is only the second time Murray has played a Brit at the All England Club after the Scot beat Liam Broady in the first round in 2016 before clinching his second title.
Then it gets even more difficult, as the winner of this duel meets either fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas or former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, although neither feels particularly comfortable on grass.
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The two young British debutants have been given daunting tasks – 20-year-old Arthur Fery will play third-seeded Daniil Medvedev, while 22-year-old George Loffhagen will take on sixth-seeded Holger Rune.
Britain’s No.1 Cameron Norrie will take on Czech qualifier Tomas Machac but still has work to do to reach last year’s semi-finals.
He is seeded to face talented young American Sebastian Korda in the third round, to whom he lost at Queen’s Club last week while in the same group as Murray and Tsitsipas.
As the two top seeds, the big favorites Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz can only meet in the final.
Djokovic, who is hoping to equal two major records with his eighth Wimbledon title and 24th Grand Slam trophy, takes on Argentina’s Pedro Cachin and should be happy with his draw.
Nick Kyrgios is lurking in their quarter-finals a year after their last meeting but there are serious doubts about his fitness as the Australian has played just one game this year following knee surgery.
Alcaraz, who is yet to progress through the fourth round but has shown his rapid progress on grass with a win at Queen’s, meets experienced Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his opening game.
Dan Evans, seeded 27th, meets France’s Quentin Halys first, while British wildcards Liam Broady and Jan Choinski meet Constant Lestienne and Dusan Lajovic respectively.
The women’s draw featured a number of strong grass players, including defending champion Elena Rybakina, last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur and second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who was placed in the bottom half.
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Among them is British No. 1 Katie Boulter. The 26-year-old appears to have a decent first-round draw against Australia’s Daria Saville, who is coming back from knee surgery, but could play Rybakina in the third round.
Top seed Iga Swiatek plays China’s Zhu Lin on Monday and faces a race to get fit after missing her scheduled semi-final in Bad Homburg on Friday due to illness.
Two standout draws saw two high-profile wildcards, 43-year-old Venus Williams and former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina team up, while seventh-seeded Coco Gauff will take on former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who had to pass the qualification.
Svitolina reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in her first Grand Slam tournament after the birth of her daughter Skai in October.
From the other British players, three seeded players attracted: Heather Watson, who reached fourth round last year, plays former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova, Katie Swan meets 14th seed Belinda Bencic and Sonay Kartal meets the 25 seeded Madison Keys.
Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage fared better – the former against France’s Diane Parry and the latter against American’s Caty McNally.
The game starts on Monday at the All England Club.
