Wimbledon draw: Emma Raducanu handed tough first match as Andy Murray faces James Duckworth
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Emma Raducanu will face Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round at Wimbledon in what was a far from straight forward draw for the US Open champion, while Andy Murray will face James Duckworth in the opening round 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 Duckworth, 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.
Iga Swiatek will open against qualifier Jana Fett while Simona Halep’s first-round match against two-time quarter-finalist Karolina Muchova was perhaps the pick of the ties.
In the men’s draw, defending champion Novak Djokovic will open the tournament against Soonwoo Kwon on Monday while Rafael Nadal, on the other half of the draw, will begin against Francisco Cerundolo.
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 qualifier 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.
