In a draw that has divided opinion about how open it will be, the men’s section at Wimbledon is one filled with threats from both familiar faces as well as new names.
Section 1
Defending champion Andy Murray enters the draw eager to make up for his disappointing exit at the Aegon Championships in London. Leading into this year’s tournament, the Brit has also been troubled by a sore hip. Despite the scare, Murray believes he will be fit in time for the tournament.
“It’s felt much better the last few days,” he said on Sunday.
“I’ve had hip problems since I was very young. Been very sore the last few weeks.
“If I feel like I do today, I’ll be fine to play the tournament. I’ll be fine to play seven matches.”
The top seed will start his campaign against lucky loser Alexander Bublik, a player who is yet to break the world’s top 100. His section features two other top-20 seeds with the most notable being Nick Kyrgios. Like Murray, the Australian has been troubled by his hip and recently said he was only “65% fit.”
Should Murray and Kyrgios wish to lock horns, they will both need to progress to the fourth round. Before then Murray could face Dustin Brown, who defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon a couple years ago, and Fabio Fognini, who he lost to earlier in the season. Meanwhile, Kyrgios could face a third round showdown against Lucas Pouille, who reached the quarter-finals at SW19 12 months ago.
Elsewhere, rising star Denis Shapovalov will be bidding to win his first main draw match at a grand slam when he takes on Jerzy Janowicz. Also, Russian veteran Dmitry Tursunov is set to play his first match since the Australian Open.
