G’day mate! All Aussie affair confirmed as ninth seed Alex de Minaur draws James Duckworth in Wimbledon men’s singles opener

Wimbledon hopes Alex de Minaur will play his first round match against in-form Australian compatriot James Duckworth after the post-draw drama at the All England Club.

The ninth-seeded De Minaur had initially had to face the unpredictable Frenchman Corentin Moutet in Friday’s draw. This puts him on a collision course with the quarter-final against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

But less than three hours after the draw was completed, Moutet withdrew from the championships with a wrist injury, giving Duckworth, who had been eliminated in the final qualifying round, a dream opportunity to play fellow Sydneysider de Minaur, a ‘lucky loser’.

But while Moutet, the world number 55, appeared to be an unpredictable opponent with a lot of flair, Duckworth, the world number 78 who at the age of 32 is enjoying a revival after an injury-interrupted career, is just as good. great danger to the Minaur. He recently reached the quarter-finals on the Stuttgart lawn.

De Minaur won their only previous confrontation.

With one Australian guaranteed at least a place in the second round, de Minaur remains favourite to face 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round should the Canadian get past another Australian in Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.

Negotiations would also have to be concluded over a potential titanic fourth round date with Hubert Hurkacz for ‘Demon’ ahead of a clash with Novak Djokovic.

In the women’s singles, Aussie wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic, fresh from reaching the final of the Birmingham Classic, will face former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko again in a Wimbledon clash, three years after they clashed in a bad-tempered fourth-round match at SW19.

James Duckworth replaces injured Frenchman Corentin Moutet as ‘lucky loser’

In that match, which the Australian won in three sets, the fiery Latvian branded Tomljanovic the “worst player on the tour” after she was accused of faking an injury.

It ended when Ostapenko confronted Tomljanovic over the net and told her: ‘Your behavior is terrible, terrible. You have zero respect.’

But Tomljanovic was adamant on Friday that there is no more animosity between the two, after they played and defeated Ostapenko in Eastbourne in 2022 and at the Australian Open this year.

“We’re cool, I would say,” Tomljanovic said. “Look, for me what happened is in the past.”

Australian world number 1 Daria Saville takes on American Peyton Stearns, while Olivia Gadecki – who said it was a “dream come true” to reach the main draw – will battle American teenager Robin Montgomery in a qualifying matches.

Duckworth’s late entry means 11 Australian men will compete in the singles format, with qualifier Alex Bolt given the toughest assignment against eighth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud as a reward for his battle in a great qualifying week.

The 31-year-old South Australian was called up to play as a reserve in Roehampton on Monday after another player withdrew 10 minutes before he was due to take the field.

Bolt went on to win all three of his matches, including a fightback from two sets and match point down in his last meeting on Thursday against Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi, and will now face two-time French Open finalist Ruud.

Reigning men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz will face Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal on Monday, with Australian Aleksandar Vukic in contention to face him if he can beat Austrian Sebastian Ofner.