Wimbledon 2017 Preview: Reigning Champ Andy Murray Facing Alexander Bublik In Round 1

The draws for the 2017 Wimbledon tournament were made at the All England Club in London on Friday, and defending champion Andy Murray will open the event by facing Alexander Bublik on Monday.

Angelique Kerber will face American Irina Falconi in Round 1 of Wimbledon

Murray — the world number one — won his second Wimbledon title last year and will now face Kazakhstan’s world number 134 on Centre Court at 1pm BST on Day 1 (Monday). The tournament will end on July 16.

The 30-year-old Scotsman withdrew from his final warm-up match before Wimbledon due to a sore hip, but was practicing at the All England Club on Friday.

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer will play world number 84 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in his first-round match this year.

The 35-year-old Swiss — who this year took a break from clay-court tournaments like the French Open to focus on grass play — is set to play 27th seeded German Mischa Zverev in the third round.

Canadian Milos Raonic — who reached a career-high No. 3 world ranking in November 2016 — defeated Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals last year and is scheduled to play the Swiss in the quarterfinals this year.

Three-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic is also a top contender in this year’s tournament, as is two-time champ Rafael Nadal. 

If everything goes as planned, the top seed in men’s singles would face Stan Wawrinka — the reigning U.S. Open champion from Switzerland — in the quarterfinals before playing Nadal.

Djokovic will face Martin Klizan of Slovakia in his opening match and could also play Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro — a former U.S. Open winner and 29th seed — in the third round.

On the women’s draw, the only former winners are Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova, as defending champion Serena Williams is pregnant with her first child.

Two-time champion Kvitova — who won the warm-up event in Birmingham merely six months after being attacked by a knife-carrying assailant in her home — faces Swede Johanna Larsson in the first round.

Women’s world number one Angelique Kerber of Germany will face American qualifier Irina Falconi in the first round, and is set to play Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals.

British women’s number one Johanna Konta — a sixth seed — will face Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su-wei in her opening match.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 05: Andy Murray of Great Britain returns a shot to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during his fourth round Men’s Singles match on Day Eight of the 2016 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 5, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena