By Niall Clarke
- Six British players will be represented in the main draw, all face tough openers
- Murray drawn in the same quarter as Nadal and same half as Federer
- Five Brits drawn in the same quarter
The British six, led by Andy Murray, will face tough opening round matches at Wimbledon after the draw was made earlier today.
Murray has been drawn in the same half as Roger Federer, and the same quarter as Nadal and Ferrer as the British number one bids for a second Wimbledon triumph.
Murray- seeded third at these championships, will open his campaign against big hitting Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, before facing either Robin Haase or Alejandro Falla in round two.
Andreas Seppi is Murray’s projected round three opponent. The Italian however opens up against another Brit in Brydan Klein. A tough draw for the 25 year old.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga is the projected round of sixteen opponent for Murray, but the Frenchman’s injury plus tough draw means that it could quite easily be Gilles Muller, or Ivo Karlovic.
British number three Kyle Edmund also finds himself in this section. The 20 year old faces a tough round one against Alexandr Dolgopolov, who is showing good form in Nottingham this week.
Elsewhere in Murray’s quarter is a pair of Spaniard’s who seem on a collision course for round four. However there are two Brits looking to spoil the party.
David Ferrer is not only Murray’s projected quarter final opponent, he is also James Ward’s first round adversary. The British number four can claim he has got the toughest first round opponent in the form of the world number seven, despite Ferrer’s second round defeat in Nottingham.
Elsewhere in this stacked quarter is Rafael Nadal, a tough proposition no matter what the surface. Of course, the two time Wimbledon champion is more vulnerable on grass than other surfaces, but if he can survive the first week, Nadal will become dangerous.
As the tournament reaches its latter stages, the grass slows and the ball bounces higher which favours the Spaniard, making him more dangerous for Murray if they are to meet.
However, the British number two Aljaz Bedene will be hoping to possibly help his new compatriot out by defeating Nadal in round three.
The Slovenian born player faces experienced serve and volleyer Radek Stepanek in round one, which is arguably the best of the British draws. Round two may be even trickier if Viktor Troicki overcomes Alexsandr Nedovyesov.
If the British players somehow manage to navigate their way through a tough section, we could see some all British clashes with 5 of the 6 representatives being in the same quarter.
Whoever advances from this quarter will be projected to play Federer in the semi-finals. But the seven time champion has tough tests before that stage. Federer must go through the likes of Feliciano Lopez, and Tomas Berdych before potentially meeting Murray.
The one Brit who has avoided Murray’s quarter is Liam Broady. The 21 year old faces ‘Mad-Dog’ Marinko Matosevic in round one in an interesting contest- after all it is Matosevic. Round two will likely be David Goffin who faces Horacio Zeballos in his opener.
Broady has been drawn in French Open champion Stan Wawrinka’s section. The Swiss will be looking to build on his Roland Garros triumph by having his greatest Wimbledon run to date. His previous best was the Quarter Finals last year.
He faces a tough task with Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios and Richard Gasquet in his quarter along with Broady and Goffin of course.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic will have to do it the hard way if he is to defend his title. The world number one faces perhaps the most difficult unseeded player in Phillip Kohlschreiber. Elsewhere in this tough section is former two time champion Lleyton Hewitt- who is playing his final Wimbledon tournament, Leonardo Mayer, Bernard Tomic, Kevin Anderson and former semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz.
Kei Nishikori is the projected quarter final opponent in this section, but the Japanese star must get through the likes of John Isner and Marin Cilic if he is to make it that far.
It is fair to say this is an interesting draw from a British perspective, with five representatives in one quarter alone. They all face difficult tests in the opening round, but will hope for good runs none the less. Title hopes will like rest in the hands of Murray, who heads in to the tournament as one of the favourites.
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