Wimbledon draw: Andy Murray given tough route to final
Friday 26 June 2015 17:36, UK
Andy Murray will take on Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round at Wimbledon – and the world No 3 has been drawn in the opposite half of the draw to top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic.
But the bad news for Murray is that his route to the final is strewn with major challenges – he could have to get past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer before a potential meeting with Djokovic in the final.
And Murray might have hoped for an easier first round opponent than Kukushkin, 27, who is ranked 58 in the world. On his good days, he is very good - he took Nadal to four sets in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year - but arrives in poor form, having won just one of his last six matches.
The pair have met twice before, Murray winning both matches.
"He's a good player, he's had some big tournaments in the past," Murray said. "I think he played Rafa (Nadal) pretty close here last year - he can play well on the grass. He's plays predominantly from the baseline but he's a good ball striker and if you give him time to dictate the points he's a tough guy to beat."
After that, big-serving Dutchman Robin Haase is a potential second round opponent, and Andreas Seppi – the experienced Italian who reached the Halle final last week and beat Federer at the Australian Open – could await in the third.
Djokovic could hardly have had a worse first round draw. He will play the experienced and in-form German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who had two match points against Federer in Halle last week. Kohlschreiber is one of the finest grass court players around and at No 33 in the world rankings, only just missed out on being seeded himself.
Former champion Leyton Hewitt – playing his final Wimbledon – could be Djokovic’s second round opponent. But Djokovic can otherwise have few complaints about his draw – Federer, Murray and Nadal are all in the other half, while French Open champion Stan Wawrinka, the fourth seed, is not nearly as dangerous on grass as he is on clay.
Nadal, who is having a tough 2015, will face the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, the world No 41. Federer faces Bosnia's world No 81 Damir Dzumhur.
If the seedings work, the last 16 would see Djokovic face Kevin Anderson of South Africa, US Open champion Marin Cilic against Kei Nishikori, French Open champion Stan Wawrinka facing big-hitting Belgian David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov taking on Milos Raonic.
In the bottom half, seven-time champion and second seed Federer could face Feliciano Lopez, Tomas Berdych would meet Gilles Simon, 2013 winner Murray could play Tsonga - or potentially ace-machine Ivo Karlovic - with two-time champion Nadal up against compatriot David Ferrer.
British hopeful James Ward will fancy his chances of an upset – he takes on eighth seed Ferrer who was beaten in the first round at Nottingham this week and has never made a big impact on grass.
Fellow Brit Liam Brody will play the combustible Australian Marinko Matosovic, Aljaz Bedene faces Czech veteran Radek Stepanek and Kyle Edmund plays Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, conquerer of Nadal at Queen's. Australian-born Brydan Klein, now representing Britain, was drawn against Seppi.
On the women's side, Britain's Johanna Konta has been given a plum draw – probably on Centre Court – against former champion Maria Sharapova. British No 1 Heather Watson also has a tough first round match with the up-and-coming Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, the 32nd seed.
But wildcard Laura Robson will fancy her chances against Russian Evgeniya Rodina, the world No 101, as will Naomi Broady who plays Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino, the world No 99.
World No 1 Serena Williams will take on the world No 113 Margarita Gasparyan of Russia, and could meet sister Venus in the last 16.
Williams, who is bidding to hold all four majors at the same time for the second time in her career – 'the Serena Slam' – has been drawn to face Sharapova in the semi-final.
That's bad news for the Russian, who has won just two of her 19 matches against the American, the last of them in the 2004 Wimbledon final.
Second seed and defending champion Petra Kvitova, who faces Kiki Bertens first up, would potentially meet Simona Halep in the semi-finals.
Wimbledon women's singles draw
