Murray takes out Peniston in all-British Wimbledon opener – BBC Sport

Two-time champion Andy Murray will face fellow Briton Ryan Peniston in a dramatic 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 begin at the All England Club on Monday.

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

Djokovic is seeded second after being replaced as world number one by Spain 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.

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

Rybakina, 23, is seeded third and enters the same half of the draw as the Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, meaning they will meet in the semi-finals.

Rybakina and Sabalenka, who played first as Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, were placed in the bottom half of the draw.

This half is stacked with players with great 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.

Top seed Every Swiatek has yet to get past the fourth round at Wimbledon but has a more favorable path as he aims for a fifth major title.

The 22-year-old from Poland will open against China’s Lin Zhu, while the American seventh seed Coco Gauff – an expected quarter-final opponent for Swiatek – will face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who came through qualifying after falling in the rankings.

Another standout match in the first round was against the American five-time champion Venus Williams, 43, against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina which was a semi-finalist in 2019.

British men’s number one Cameron Norrie, who reached the semi-finals last year and is seeded 12th, begins his campaign against Czech qualifier Tomas Macchac.

However, 27-year-old Norrie could face a difficult path to the final stages if the draw follows the seedings’ projection.

Norrie could face American 22nd seed Sebastian Korda in the third round, with Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev potentially looming in the fourth round and quarter-finals.

Dan Evans is the only British player seeded and the 33-year-old will start against France’s Quentin Halys.

No British players gained direct entry into the women’s draw, with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu injured after surgery on her wrists and ankles.

Katie Boulter, who replaced Raducanu as the British number one, will face Australia’s world number 228 Daria Saville in her opening match.

Boulter reached a career-high ranking after winning the Nottingham title this month, but was still outside the top 100 when the cut for direct entry was made.

Boulter, ranked 88th, is one of six British women given wildcards for the singles draw.

Heather Watson will face Czech 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova, Kate Swan playing Swiss 14th seed Belinda Bencic and Sonay Kartal will be drawn against American 25th seed Madison Keys.

Harriet Dart plays France’s Diane Parry and Jodie Burrage met the American Caty McNally.

Young British players George Loffhagen and Arthur Ferry were handed a horror draw in their Wimbledon main draw debuts.

Fery, 20, will face Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, while Loffhagen, 22, will play Danish sixth seed Holger Rune.

Eight British men are in the singles draw, rounded off by Liam Broady, facing Constant Lestienne of France, and Jan Choinski who plays Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.