Wimbledon draw: Emma Raducanu handed tough first match as Andy Murray faces James Duckworth
All 17 British players in the main draw avoided being drawn against a seeded player
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Your support makes all the difference.Emma Raducanu will face Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round at Wimbledon in what was a far from straightforward draw for the US Open champion, while Andy Murray will take on James Duckworth in his opening match after avoiding a seeded opponent.
Remarkably, all 17 British players in the main draw avoided a seeded player, even if Raducanu was handed one of the tougher opening assignments on what is the 19-year-old’s first appearance back at Wimbledon since last September’s US Open triumph.
Raducanu, who was seeded 10th for the draw, will face Belgian Van Uytvanck, who is an established top-50 player, currently ranked at 46 in the world, and reached the fourth round at the Championships in 2018.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray, who is expected to be fit for the first round on Monday, received a kinder opening match against world number 77 Duckworth. Murray has won both previous meetings with the Australian, who is yet to win a match on tour this year, and could face American John Isner in the second round.
Elsewhere, Serena Williams was drawn against the unseeded Harmony Tan on what will be her first tournament appearance since last year’s Wimbledon. Williams began her comeback by playing in the Eastbourne doubles with Ons Jabeur this week and avoided the top seeds after receiving a wildcard for the main draw.
Top seed Iga Swiatek will open against qualifier Jana Fett while former champion Simona Halep’s first-round match against two-time quarter-finalist Karolina Muchova was one of the picks of the women’s draw.
Swiatek, Halep and Williams were all kept in the top half of the draw, where Coco Gauff and last year’s Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova were among the other top names. Raducanu, meanwhile, landed in the bottom half of the draw where Jabeur and former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber are in her section.
In the men’s draw, defending champion Novak Djokovic will open his quest for a seventh Wimbledon title against Kwon Soon-Woo on centre court on Monday while Rafael Nadal, on the other half of the draw, will begin against Francisco Cerundolo.
Nadal, who is aiming for a sensational calendar grand slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open titles this season, faces the tougher half of the draw with last year’s finalist Matteo Berrettini also in his section, along with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Djokovic could face Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals with Murray also being drawn in that quarter of the bracket. Murray could go on to face either Jannik Sinner or Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round, with Alcaraz a potential opponent in the last 16.
As far as other British players were concerned, Harriet Dart will face Rebeka Masarova, Katie Boulter plays Clara Burel and Jodie Burrage takes on Lesia Tsurenko. Jack Draper was handed a good draw against the wildcard Zizou Bergs while Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans were paired with Pablo Andujar and Jason Kubler respectively.
While no British player drew a seeded opponent, Paul Jubb got the pick of the ties and will face Nick Kyrgios in the opening round.
Projected fourth-round ties and bracket based on seeding
Men’s singles
Novak Djokovic / Reilly Opelka vs Carlos Alcaraz / Jannik Sinner
Casper Ruud / Pablo Carreno Busta vs Hubert Hurkacz / Cameron Norrie
Matteo Berrettini / Diego Schwartzman vs Stefanos Tsitsipas / Denis Shapovalov
Felix Auger-Aliassime / Taylor Fritz vs Rafael Nadal / Marin Cilic
Women’s singles
Iga Swiatek / Barbora Krejcikova vs Garbine Muguruza / Jessica Pegula
Paula Badosa / Simona Halep vs Coco Gauff / Karolina Pliskova
Danielle Collins / Emma Raducanu vs Angelique Kerber / Ons Jabeur
Maria Sakkari / Jelena Ostapenko vs Belinda Bencic vs Anett Kontaveit
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