Misc Tennis

Wimbledon 2023 draw: Andy Murray to face Ryan Peniston at All England Club

Andy Murray

Andy Murray won the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 2013 and 2016

Two-time champion Andy Murray will face fellow Briton Ryan Peniston in an eye-catching Wimbledon first-round match.

Murray, 36, missed out on a seeding for the grass-court Grand Slam event, leaving him open to facing a higher-ranked player in the first round.

However, the former world number one was drawn against wildcard Peniston, who is ranked 267th in the world.

The winner faces a tough test in the second round against Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Dominic Thiem.

The 136th Championships start at the All England Club on Monday, with Murray set to face Peniston on Tuesday.

Peniston, 27, is a late bloomer in the professional ranks, only making his ATP Tour debut last summer and reaching a career high of 123rd in the world after a superb run to the Queen’s quarter-finals.

Since then he has dropped outside the top 250 after struggling with a wrist injury and is playing in the Wimbledon main draw for only the second time.

The left-hander from Essex found out he was playing Murray while driving in south-west London on Friday morning, joking he almost “crashed” the car when he was told by his coach Mark Taylor.

“I wasn’t really sure if it was a joke at first, but then I knew Mark wouldn’t do that. I was pretty pumped,” Peniston said.

“I know Andy pretty well. We’ve become friends and we’ve practised quite a lot together.

“It’s pretty cool that I’ve drawn him.”

Who are the other big names playing?

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, bidding for a record-equalling 24th major and eighth Wimbledon men’s title, starts against Argentina’s Pedro Cachin.

Djokovic is seeded second after being replaced as world number one by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, 20, returned to the top of the rankings by winning the Queen’s title last week and plays French veteran Jeremy Chardy in his Wimbledon opener.

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina starts her defence of the women’s singles title against American Shelby Rogers.

Rybakina, 23, is seeded third and goes into the same half of the draw as Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, meaning they could face in the semi-finals.

Rybakina and Sabalenka, who first plays Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, have been put into the bottom half of the draw.

This half is stacked with players who have excellent pedigree on grass courts, including last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, Czech two-time champion Petra Kvitova, Czech 2021 runner-up Karolina Pliskova and Brazilian 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at BBC Sport – Tennis…