Top seeds open Wimbledon bids against qualifiers

[June 30, 2017]  By Simon Cambers

LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Murray will begin the defense of his Wimbledon title against a qualifier after the draw was made for the third grand slam of the year at the All England Club on Friday.

The Scot, who is bidding to win Wimbledon for a third time, was drawn in the same half as two-time champion Rafael Nadal, with three-times winner Novak Djokovic and seven-times champion Roger Federer placed in the bottom half.

Women's world number one Angelique Kerber also opens up against a qualifier and is seeded to face Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals.

Murray, whose preparations have been hampered by a sore hip, will open the men's event on Monday.

The world number one could play flamboyant German Dustin Brown in the second round, with Australian Nick Kyrgios a potential fourth-round opponent.

Should the seedings go to plan, the top seed will play Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals before taking on Nadal, the champion in 2008 and 2010.

Federer will begin his quest for an open-era men's record eighth title with a match against world number 84 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.

The Swiss, who won the warm-up event in Halle, is seeded to face 27th seed Mischa Zverev of Germany in the third round, with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov (13) likely to be waiting in the last 16.

Milos Raonic, who beat him in the semi-finals last year, is Federer's scheduled opponent in the quarter-finals, before a likely semi-final against Djokovic.

French Open champion Nadal, who has not gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon since 2011, plays Australia's John Millman in round one and is seeded to face former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the fourth round.

Great Britain's Andy Murray looks dejected during his first round match against Australia's Jordan Thompson Action Images via Reuters / Tony O'Brien Livepic

Djokovic plays Martin Klizan of Slovakia in his first-round match and could face Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro, the former U.S. Open winner and 29th seed, in the third round.

With the defending women's champion Serena Williams taking time out to give birth to her first child, last year's runner-up Kerber will open her campaign on Tuesday.

The German is slated to face big-serving Czech Pliskova, the runner-up at the U.S. Open last year, in the last four.

The other semi-final could be a repeat of the French Open final between surprise winner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Romania's Simona Halep.

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova, who won the warm-up event in Birmingham just six months after the Czech was attacked by a knife-wielding intruder in her home, is also in the bottom half and plays Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the first round.

(Editing by John O'Brien)

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