Andy Murray has declared himself fit for Wimbledon and will take on Benoit Paire in the first round of the tournament.
The former world No1, however, faces an uphill task in a tough half of the draw: Denis Shapalov, Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic are all potential opponents en route to the final.
Murray’s participation has been hanging in the balance following a hip problem, despite coming through three competitive matches in the tournament build-up relatively unscathed.
He had made it clear he would leave it late to make his decision and, while he could yet pull out over the weekend, he had previously said his final decision would be made prior to the draw, which was made on Friday.
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He has shown glimpses of his past good form on his return, taking Nick Kyrgios to three sets in his first competitive match for 342 days at the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s before victory over three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka in straight sets at the opening round of this week’s Nature Valley International.
But he cut a frustrated figure in losing his second-round match at Eastbourne against fellow Briton Kyle Edmund in straight sets.
The big question is how Murray’s body reacts to and recovers from potential five-set matches — his last five-setter was a year ago in the Wimbledon quarter-final he lost against Sam Querrey.
Murray had insisted he would enter Wimbledon — an event he has won twice — only if he felt he could be competitive. He said: “It’s not like I’m going to do any damage if I do play. The best thing to do is play matches.”
Up next: Murray could face rising star Shapovalov in round two PAFrenchman Paire is the last player Murray beat in competition before the Scot’s lengthy lay-off, in the fourth round of Wimbledon a year ago.
But Murray faces a tough draw after the Paire match. Shapovalov, one of the rising stars of the men’s game, lies in wait in the second round, with a possible third-round tie against del Potro.
Should Murray get through those matches, there is a possible last-16 meeting with the big-serving Jack Sock or else French Open finalist Goffin ,with Nadal and Djokovic also in his side of the draw.
Defending champion Roger Federer faces the easier half of the draw and will begin his title defence against Serbian Dusan Lajovic.
British No 1 Edmund, who has won just one of six matches in his Wimbledon career, has a clash against Australian qualifier Alex Bolt.
Of the other Britons, Liam Broady plays former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and Cameron Norrie lines up against Aljaz Bedene, who has switched his allegiance back to Slovenia after representing Britain. Murray’s main hitting partner at Wimbledon last year, Jay Clarke, will make his Wimbledon debut against Ernest Gulbis.
In the women’s draw, eight-time Wimbledon singles champion Serena Williams, who gave birth last September, plays world No107 Arantxa Rus.
British No1 Jo Konta will face Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva and has French Open champion Simona Halep, former Wimbledon winners Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza in her half of the draw.
The Men's first round Roger Federer Dusan Lajovic Lukas Lacko Benjamin Bonzi Ivo Karlovic Mikhail Youzhny Jan-Lennard Struff Leonardo Mayer Adrian Mannarino Christian Garin Ryan Harrison Roberto Carballés Baena Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Gastao Elias Daniil Medvedev Borna Coric Sam Querrey Jordan Thompson Sergiy Stakhovsky Joao Sousa Laslo Djerre Paolo Lorenzi Gael Monfils Richard Gasquet Philipp Kohlschreiber Evgeny Donskoy Gilles Muller Michael Mmoh John-Patrick Smith Andreas Seppi Norbert Gombos Kevin Anderson Marin Cilic Yoshihito Nishioka Jason Kubler Guido Pella Ricardas Berankis Mackenzie McDonald Nicolas Jarry Filip Krajinovic Lucas Pouille Denis Kudla Peter Polansky Dennis Novak John Millman Stefano Travaglia Liam Broady Milos Raonic John Isner Yannick Madem Steve Johnson Ruben Bemmelmans Aljaz Bedene Cameron Norrie Radu Albot Pablo Carreno Busta (20) Stefanos Tsitsipas Gregoire Barrere Malek Jaziri Jared Donaldson Yuki Bhambri Thomas Fabbiano Stan Wawrinka Grigor Dimitrov Dominic Thiem Marcos Baghdatis David Ferrer Karen Khachanov Julien Bennetau Márton Fuscovics Frances Tiafoe Fernando Verdasco Kyle Edmund Alex Bolt Yuichi Sugita Bradley Klahn Guido Andreozzi Horacio Zeballos Tennys Sandgren Novak Djokovic Nick Kyrgios Denis Istomin Marius Copil Robin Haase Bernard Tomic Hubert Hurkacz Christian Harrison Kei Nishikori Damir Dzumhur Maximilian Marterer Ernests Gulbis Jay Clarke Lorenzo Sonego Taylor Fritz James Duckworth Alexander Zverev Juan Martin Del Potro Peter Gojowczyk Feliciano Lopez Federico Delbonis Benoit Paire Andy Murray Jeremy Chardy Dennis Shapovalov Jack Sock Matteo Berrettini Gilles Simon Nikoloz Basilashvil Albert Ramos-Vinolas Stephane Robert Matthew Ebden David Goffin Diego Schwartzman Mirza Basic Jiri Vesely Florian Mayer Pablo Cuevas Alexandr Dogolopov Taro Daniel Fabio Fognini Marco Cecchinato Alex de Minaur Pierre-Hugues Herbert Mischa Zverev Vasek Pospisil Mikhail Kukushkin Dudi Sela Rafael Nadal The Women’s first round drawSimona HalepKurumi NaraZheng SaisaiQiang WangAna BogdanLara ArruabarrenaHsieh Su-weiAnastasia PavlyuchenkovaJohanna KontaNatalia VikhlyantsevaAlize CornetDominika CibulkovaMarketa VondrousovaSachia VickeryDanielle Rose CollinsElise MertensJelena OstapenkoKaty DunneHeather WatsonKirsten FlipkensSofia KeninMaria SakkariVitalia DiatchenkoMaria SharapovaDaria GavrilovaZarina DiyasPeng ShuaiSam StosurPauline ParmentierTaylor TownsendAliaksandra SasnovichPetra KvitovaGarbine MuguruzaNaomi BroadyAlison Van UytvanckPolona HercogJennifer BradyKateryna KozlovaDenisa AllertovaAnett KontaveitAshleigh BartyStefanie VoegeleGabriella TaylorEugenie BouchardMagda LinetteYulia PutintsevaJana FettDaria KasatkinaAngelique KerberVera ZvonarevaAna KonjuhClaire LiuKatie BoulterVeronica Cepede RoygMonica NiculescuNaomi OsakaCarla Suarez NavarroCarina WitthoeftSara Sorribes TormoKaia KanepiAlison RiskeTimea BacsinszkyBelinda BencicCaroline GarciaKarolina PliskovaHarriet DartEkaterina AlexandrovaVictoria AzarenkaIrina-Camelia BeguKatie SwanAryna SabalenkaMihaela BuzarnescuKiki BertensBarbora StefkovaWang YafanAnna BlinkovaAlexandra DulgheruKristyna PliskovaJohanna LarssonVenus WilliamsJulia GoergesMonica PuigVera LapkoChristina McHaleLesia TsurenkoTimea BabosSvetlana KuznetsovaBarbora StrycovaZhang ShuaiAndrea PetkovicMona BarthelYanina WickmayerViktoria KuzmovaRebecca PetersonDonna VekićSloane StephensElina SvitolinaTatjana MariaAnna Karolína SchmiedlováKristina MladenovicTereza SmitkováViktoriya TomovaArantxa RusSerena WilliamsSorana CirsteaMagdalena RybarikovaEvgeniya RodinaAntonia LottnerLuksika KumkhumBernarda PeraAjla TomljanovicMadison KeysCoco VandewegheKaterina SiniakovaViktorija GolubicOns JabeurAleksandra KrunicMadison BrengleCamila GiorgiAnastasija SevastovaAgnieszka RadwanskaElena-Gabriela RuseKateryna BondarenkoLucie SafarovaP Petra MarticEkaterina MakarovaVarvara LepchenkoCaroline Wozniacki