Andy Murray drawn against Tomas Machac in Wimbledon men’s singles first round as he targets SW19 swansong… while chaos descends during the ladies’ singles draw
- Andy Murray will face Tomas Machac in the first round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon
- The women’s draw at Wimbledon was marred by a technical problem
- Murray had back surgery on Saturday and has had ’24/7′ rehabilitation to get fit
An embarrassing and lengthy technical blunder occurred this morning during the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon.
Beatriz Haddad Maia’s name was called, but Mirra Andreeva appeared on the digital board with the draw. It caused a domino effect and it took several minutes to untangle it.
That was before Andy Murray was told his fate as he faced Tomas Machac.
The two-time champion is eager for a special swansong in SW19 after pushing himself to the limit to play.
Just last week he withdrew from his second-round clash with Jordan Thompson at Queen’s after nerve pain caused by a cyst in the spine immobilised his right leg.
Andy Murray has been drawn against Tomas Machac in the first round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon
Chaos ensued at the Wimbledon draw when Mirra Andreeva was drawn twice
Murray has been recovering from back surgery for a cyst in his spine, which he had on Saturday
Emma Raducanu, meanwhile, has a tough draw with 22nd-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova, while 32nd-seeded Katie Boulter takes on Tatjana Maria.
As for Jack Draper, he will play Elias Ymer, while Cameron Norrie will face Facundo Diaz Acosta.
Murray underwent further back surgery on Saturday and was initially told he would be out of action for six to 12 weeks and would not be able to play on his beloved green grass pitch.
He claimed he was doing 24/7 rehabilitation to get fit again for what appeared to be his last summer in top-flight tennis, with the Paris Olympics seen as a ‘suitable’ end goal.
Earlier this week, Murray stated that he has ambitions to be fit as he looks to end his career on a high.
‘It’s clear that the past week has been quite tough.
‘There is of course a lot going on in my plans to finish the Olympic Games.
“When I suffered the injury at Queen’s and then had the subsequent scans and doctor’s appointments, it was quite a difficult situation. Multiple surgeons told me I needed surgery immediately.
‘I had quite a large cyst on my spinal cord, which was seen on a scan after the French Open, but it grew significantly in size over the next two to three weeks.
Emma Raducanu has been given a challenging first round singles match against 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova
Katie Boulter, the 32nd seed, will face 2018 quarterfinalist Tatjana Maria
‘So I had to have the surgery, but I was given different timelines for how long that would take. And I was also made aware that if I decided to play Wimbledon, there was a risk involved and it was a question of whether I wanted to take that risk.
“But even though there was a potential risk, the surgery went very, very well and I’m recovering very well.”
Move over to Raducanu, and she will begin her Wimbledon campaign against Russian No. 22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in a women’s singles draw that none of the British contingent should be too unhappy about.
The 29-year-old Alexandrova reached the fourth round last year, but there were certainly tougher draws for an unseeded player and Raducanu appears to be in an open part of the draw.
32nd seed Katie Boulter will start against 2018 German quarterfinalist Tatjana Maria and could face a third-round showdown with 5th seed Jessica Pegula.
Wildcard Heather Watson plays against Belgian world number 85 Greet Minnen, Harriet Dart takes on qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan and Fran Jones, another wildcard, against Croatian Petra Martic.
Qualifying player Sonay Kartal will play 29th-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania and wildcard player Lily Miyazaki will play 75th-seeded Tamara Korpatsch of the world from Germany.