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Jack Draper has been handed a tough first-round draw for the men’s singles draw at Wimbledon, while Emma Raducanu and all remaining Brits learn their fates for the first match of the tournament.
Draper, who has been playing his first competitive matches at Eastbourne this week after a two-month lay-off with injury, will face American sixth seed and last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist Taylor Fritz in the first round.
Heading to the All England Club with the former world number one and three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray in his coaching box, the former US Open semi-finalist has reached the semi-finals of the ATP 250 event and slowly gained confidence in his performances as he continues to return from a catalogue of injuries that started just under a year ago.
Fritz, who pulled out of the tournament on the south coast earlier this week, has been on a good run of form on the grass in recent years, winning the Eastbourne tournament four times in the last six years and has reached two ATP Finals on grass this month – the Stuttgart Open and Terra Wortmann Open.
British number one and the 26th seed in SW17, Cameron Norrie, begins his tournament against American qualifier Michael Zheng and could meet Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round.
On the women’s side, British number one Emma Raducanu, seeded 30th after her run to Queen’s final earlier this month, is set to start against Croatia’s Antoina Ruzic and could come up against world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the third round – a repeat of last year’s contest at the same stage.
A meeting in the second round for Raducanu could be either former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko or fellow Brit Harriet Dart; however, there are concerns over the 2021 US Open champion’s fitness after she did not practice on Thursday due to a shin injury.
How does it look for the other Brits in the main draw?
30-year-old Jan Choinski has enjoyed an impressive week in Eastbourne after reaching his first-ever ATP-Tour level quarter-final – the first British qualifier to do so – and has subsequently broken into the top-100 in the world rankings for the first time in his career.
He will face Czech Republic’s Vit Kopriva in the first round at Wimbledon.
Six other Brits were handed a wildcard for the men’s singles draw and the pick of the bunch for those was Felix Gill’s match-up against Spain’s teenage sensation Rafael Jodar.
Toby Samuel, who is set to compete in his first ATP semi-final at Eastbourne on Friday, will take on Roland Garros semi-finalist Jakub Mensik in the opening round. Jack Pinnington Jones has been drawn against America’s Brandon Nakashima, who progressed to the semi-finals of HSBC Championships earlier this month.
Henry Wendelken could come up against recent Grand Slam winner Alexander Zverev in the second round if the Brit overcomes Valentin Royer, while Arthur Fery takes on Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur.
Three more Brits also reached the main draw through the qualifying tournament this week as Grand Slam debutant Max Basing was drawn against fellow qualifier and Japan’s Shinataro Mochizuki.
Oliver Tarvet came through the qualifiers last year to progress to the second round, eventually losing to Carlos Alcaraz, and the 22-year-old will need to overcome France’s Arthur Rinderknech to replicate that once again this year. 31-year-old Billy Harris faces Karen Khachanov in the third round after reaching the singles main draw for a third year in a row.
Katie Boutler and Francesca Jones, who both secured their spots through ranking, will face qualifier Tyra Grant and France’s Diane Parry respectively.
17-year-old and wildcard Hannah Klugman will face one of the biggest challenges of her career to date, taking on 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the opening round.
Alongside Klugman being awarded a wildcard for the main draw, five more Brits received them for the women’s singles, including debutant Alicia Dudeney, who will face America’s Alycia Parks in the first-ever match at a Grand Slam.
Teenager Mika Stojsavljevic, 17, was drawn against 11th seed Belinda Bencic, Mimi Xu will take on Australia’s Daria Kasatkina and Katie Swan is up against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
Men’s singles draw – first round
Rafael Jodar vs Felix Gill
Shinataro Mochizuki vs Max Basing
Brandon Nakashima vs Jack Pinngton Jones
Michael Zheng vs Cameron Norrie
Arthur Rinderknech vs Oliver Tarvet
Karen Khachanov vs Billy Harris
Jakub Mensik vs Toby Samuel
Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper
Vit Kopriva vs Jan Choinski
Alex Michelsen vs Jacob Fearnley
Valentin Royer vs Henry Wendelken
Damir Dzumhur vs Arthur Fery
Women’s singles draw – first round
Jelena Ostapenko vs Harriet Dart
Antonia Ruzic vs Emma Raducanu
Daria Kasatkina vs Mimi Xu
Alycia Parks vs Alicia Dudeney
Barbora Krejcikova vs Hannah Klugman
Belinda Bencic vs Mika Stojsavljevic
Francesca Jones vs Diane Parry
Irina-Camelia Begu vs Katie Swan
Katie Boutler vs Tyra Grant
