Murray draws Peniston in all-British Wimbledon opener
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.
Top seed Iga Swiatek has never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon and starts against the highest-ranked opponent she could have faced.
The 22-year-old from Poland opens against China’s world number 33 Lin Zhu as she aims for a fifth major title, while American seventh seed Coco Gauff – a prospective quarter-final opponent for Swiatek – faces 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who came through qualifying after falling down the rankings.
Another standout match in the first round pits American five-time champion Venus Williams, 43, against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who was a semi-finalist in 2019.
Who have the rest of the Britons drawn?
British men’s number one Cameron Norrie, who reached the semi-finals last year and is seeded 12th, starts his campaign against Czech qualifier Tomas Machac.
However, 27-year-old Norrie could face a tricky path to the latter stages if the draw follows the projection of the seedings.
Norrie could play 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 other British player who is seeded and the 33-year-old starts against France’s Quentin Halys.
No British players earned direct entry into the women’s draw, with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu out injured after having surgeries on her wrists and ankle.
Katie Boulter, who has replaced Raducanu as British number one, will play 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 faces Czech 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova, Katie Swan plays Swiss 14th seed Belinda Bencic and Sonay Kartal is drawn against American 25th seed Madison Keys.
Harriet Dart plays France’s Diane Parry and Jodie Burrage meets American Caty McNally.
Young British players George Loffhagen and Arthur Fery have been given daunting draws on their debuts in the Wimbledon main draw.
Fery, 20, faces Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, while Loffhagen, 22, plays Danish sixth seed Holger Rune.
Eight British men are in the singles draw, rounded off by Liam Broady, who faces France’s Constant Lestienne, and Jan Choinski who plays Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.