Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has pulled out of his first round match on Tuesday after being unable to return to full fitness following surgery. 

The former world No.1 had been in a race against time to be fit for the tournament where he will be making his final appearance as a player. Murray recently underwent a procedure on his back to treat an issue that was affecting his right leg. Last month at Queen’s he retired from his second round match against Jordan Thompson due to the issue. 

“Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year. As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time,” Murray’s management said in a statement.

Murray’s withdrawal brings an end to his singles career at Wimbledon. Since making his debut in 2005, he has won 61 out of 74 main draw matches played. In 2013 he became the first British man in 77 years to win the title before winning the trophy for a second time three years later. Overall, he has won 200 Grand Slam matches and was the eighth man in the Open Era to reach this milestone.

The 37-year-old will now focus on the doubles tournament which he will be playing alongside his brother Jamie. It is only the third time in his career that Murray has played in the men’s doubles event at Wimbledon after 2005 and 2019. 

Replacing Murray in the draw will be lucky loser David Goffin who plays Tomas Machac. 

Day 2 at The Championships is scheduled to host the completion of first round singles play.

Five-time Major champion Iga Swiatek faces a potentially risky opening round draw on Tuesday, in 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who a year ago upset Coco Gauff in this same round.  At the only Major where Swiatek is yet to reach the semifinals, and coming off an extremely successful yet grueling clay court season, is Iga ripe for an upset on her weakest surface?

Other first round action on Day 2 features both of last year’s women’s singles finalists: the champion Marketa Vondrousova, and the two-time runner-up, Ons Jabeur.  Plus, Major champs Elena Rybakina, Angelique Kerber, and Caroline Wozniacki will all play their opening contests.  And Jelena Ostapenko will reignite a prickly rivalry with Ajla Tomljanovic.

Tuesday’s ATP schedule is headlined by seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, who will play his first match since undergoing knee surgery just a few short weeks ago.  And another injured champion, Andy Murray, is scheduled to take to the singles court at Wimbledon for what may be the last time.  The two-time champion had a minor procedure on his injured back just over a week ago, but is aiming to play both singles and doubles in what he has announced will be his last year playing at The Championships.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Tuesday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.

Sebastian Korda (20) vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (LL) – 11:00am on Court 16

This is a tough first round draw for the surging American, who just debuted inside the top 20 after reaching the final of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, as well as the semifinals of Queen’s Club.  Mpetshi Perricard is an extremely impressive 20-year-old Frenchman who stands at six feet, eight inches tall.  Just six weeks ago in Lyon, which was only his fourth tour-level event, Giovanni won his first ATP Title.  And two weeks ago at Queen’s Club, he upset Ben Shelton in straight sets.

Meptshi Perricard has a big serve, and can also crush the ball from the back of the court.  His game is well-suited for the grass of SW19.  But Korda certainly has the edge in experience.  He advanced to the second week of this event back in 2021, though a year ago he was upset in the first round by Jiri Vesely.

Sebi has struggled to rediscover his form since suffering a wrist injury at the 2023 Australian Open, yet his recent results on grass suggest he finally is.  I favor Korda to prevail in what should be a fascinating first round contest to start the day.

Ajla Tomljanovic (WC) vs. Jelena Ostapenko (13) – Second on Court 12

Three years ago after their third round match at this tournament, these players shared a contentious exchange at the net.  Tomljanovic won 6-2 in the third, but not before Ostapenko took a medical timeout late in the third set, leading to Ajla accusing Jelena of faking.  Jelena then scolded Ajla for her “terrible behavior.” 

But that remains Tomljanovic’s sole victory over Ostapenko, as Jelena has taken their other three meetings.  That includes another three-setter this past January at the Australian Open, though Ajla was coming off a prolonged absence during 2023 due to a knee injury.  The Australian is just 6-7 this season, as she missed more time due to a health issue.  But she reached the final of Birmingham just two weeks ago.

Ostapenko got off to a great start to her 2024, winning titles in both Adelaide and Linz.  However, she went just 1-2 on grass in June.  Jelena is as streaky and unpredictable as they come, but I give her the slight edge on Tuesday based on recent form, as well as their sorted history.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Sofia Kenin – Last on No.1 Court

Swiatek is a superb 45-4 on the year, though as usual, she arrives at The All-England Club without playing a match on grass.  It’s understandable considering she played 22 matches on clay within a two-month period, but it’s far from ideal preparation for a surface she’s still trying to figure out.  However, Iga did win the girls’ title here back in 2018, so winning on grass is not a completely foreign concept to her.

It’s been a rough season for Kenin, as the 2020 WTA Player of the Year is 7-16 at all levels.  She is yet to rediscover the tennis that propelled her to the finals of two Majors just four years ago.  However, a month ago in Paris, she reminded us how capable she is of upsetting top names at any time, when she eliminated French No.1 Caroline Garcia.  And Sofia has never lost in the first round of Wimbledon.

Swiatek is 2-0 against Kenin, with both victories coming in straight sets.  Those matches took place in the championship match of Roland Garros in 2020, and the first round of this year’s Australian Open.  On Tuesday, I favor Iga to make it 3-0 against Sofia, and I would not be surprised to see Swiatek make a deep run this year at The Championships, in a quarter of the draw that looks rather open.

Andy Murray vs. Tomas Machac – Last on Centre Court

We will not know until Tuesday morning if Andy Murray will indeed play this match, as he continues to rehab the back injury he suffered less than two weeks ago at Queen’s Club.  And that came on the heels of rupturing ligaments in his left ankle earlier this season in Miami.  This was all a less-than-ideal way to prepare for his 16^th and final appearance at his home Slam and favorite event, where he has achieved such history for British tennis.

His opponent on Tuesday is the same one he injured his ankle against in Miami.  Machac is in the midst of a breakout season, as the 23-year-old cut his ranking in half between January and June, from No.78 to No.34.  Tomas defeated Andy in a third-set tiebreak on his way to the Miami quarterfinals, a run that also featured a victory over Andrey Rublev.  Two months later, Machac was a finalist in Geneva on clay.

If Murray takes to the court, this would actually be their third meeting of 2024, as Tomas also defeated Andy this past February in Marseille.  Hopefully Murray is able to play, and can do so without doing any further damage to his back, as that would risk his plan to play doubles this fortnight with brother Jamie.  But considering Sir Andy’s tenuous condition, Machac must be favored to earn his first-ever win at The All-England Club.

Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:

Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Q) – The 2022 champion withdrew from two different grass court lead-up events, citing illness and scheduling changes.  Two years ago in Miami, she defeated Ruse 6-4, 7-5.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs. Marketa Vondrousova (6) – The 2023 champion withdrew from Berlin due to a hip injury after falling on the grass, but says she’s feeling good, and is ready to defend her title.  Bouzas Maneiro is a 21-year-old from Spain looking for her first win at a Major.

Roberto Carballes Baena vs. Alexander Zverev (4) – After failing to win his first Major three weeks ago in Paris, despite being one set away from doing so for the second time in his career, Zverev lost in the semifinals of Halle to Hubert Hurkacz.  Carballes Baena is just 1-5 lifetime at Wimbledon.

Vit Kopriva (Q) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Just how healthy is Novak’s knee following the procedure he had after injuring it during Roland Garros?  Kopriva is a 27-year-old qualifier from the Czech Republic who is 0-1 in the main draw of Slams.

Yulia Putintseva vs. Angelique Kerber (WC) – The 2018 champion is just 7-13 since returning from maternity leave, but she’s won her last 10 first round matches at The Championships.  Putintseva claimed a grass court title just over a week ago in Birmingham, though she is 1-2 against Angie.

Caroline Wozniacki (WC) vs. Alycia Parks (Q) – Wozniacki is 13-12 since unretiring last summer, and suffered a knee injury last week in Bad Homburg after winning two matches.  Parks is a big-hitting 23-year-old American qualifier who is currently on an eight-match grass court win streak, though all those matches occurred either at ITF level or during qualifying last week.

Ons Jabeur (10) vs. Moyuka Uchijima – Jabeur has been the runner-up in consecutive years at SW19, despite being the pre-match favorite in both of those finals.  She went 4-2 on grass during the month of June.  Uchijima is a 22-year-old from Japan who is just 3-6 lifetime on this surface at all levels.

Felix Auger-Aliassime (17) vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis – Auger-Aliassime was a quarterfinalist here in 2021, yet has lost in the first round in both of the last two years.  He also lost in the first round of Halle two weeks ago.  Kokkinakis is only 1-3 lifetime at this tournament.

Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.

Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has pulled out of Wimbledon after recently casting doubt on her participation in the tournament. 

The world No.3 has withdrawn from the tournament due to a shoulder injury, according to an official statement from the AELTC. Sabalenka would have been a title contender in the tournament after reaching the quarter-finals or better at the last seven Grand Slam tournaments. 

“I’m heartbroken to tell you all that I won’t be able to play the Championships this year,” Sabalenka said in a statement posted on social media.
“I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not cooperating. I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would only make things worse. 
“This tournament means so much to me and I promise I’ll be back stronger.”

Over the weekend, the 26-year-old admitted to reporters that she was ‘not 100 percent fit’ and was struggling with a shoulder injury that forced her to withdraw from her match against Anna Kalinskaya at the Berlin Open in Germany. She later added that there was a ‘chance’ that she wouldn’t be playing. 

“It’s teres major,” she said of her physical issue. “I call it just shoulder injury. It’s really a specific injury, and it’s really a rare one. Probably I’m just the second or the third tennis player who injured that muscle. [It’s] a very frustrating one. The most annoying thing is that I can do anything. I can practice, I can hit my groundstrokes. I’m struggling with serving. That’s really annoying.
“You don’t feel like you’re injured. If you give me some weights, I’m going to go lift some weights. But if you tell me to serve, I’m going to go through pain. We did an MRI, we did everything. We did a lot of rehab, a lot of treatments.”

Sabalenka has now missed Wimbledon in three out of the past five years. However, the tournament wasn’t held in 2020 due to COVID-19 and in 2022 she was unable to play because of the decision to ban Russian and Belarussian players. 

She will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Erika Andrea, who will play Emma Betkas in the first round on Monday.