Andy Murray gets underway at Wimbledon with a first-round clash against James Duckworth this evening.
Like fellow Brit Emma Raducanu and so many of the other top players heading to SW19 including the likes of history-chasing Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, the two-time champion goes into the third Grand Slam of the year off the back of recent injury strife.
Murray did brilliantly to reach the final of the Stuttgart Open earlier this month, beating the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios along the way, but suffered an abdominal issue during his defeat by Matteo Berrettini that has hampered his serve.
The 35-year-old was forced to withdraw from Queen’s and has seen his preparations for Wimbledon badly disrupted, though he appears to be ready to compete as things stand.
Unseeded as the world No51, Murray got a stroke of good fortune as he avoided the big guns early in Friday’s draw and was instead paired with Duckworth, the 77th-ranked Australian who has struggled badly for form this year, failing to win a main-draw match in 2022 to date.
Duckworth did not escape the first round at either the Australian or French Opens and lost to Britain’s Paul Jubb at Queen’s before being bested by Lorenzo Sonego in Eastbourne.
Murray vs Duckworth date and start time
Murray vs Duckworth is the third match scheduled for Centre Court on this afternoon, following the completion of defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic’s opener against Kwon Soon-woo - which started at 1:30pm BST - and British No1 Emma Raducanu’s meeting with Alison Van Uytvanck.
How to watch Murray vs Duckworth
TV channel: On Monday, the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage begins on the Red Button from 11am, with the BBC One programme commencing at 1:45pm.
Live stream: TV licence fee-payers can also stream all the tennis action live online over the next fortnight via the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app.
Live blog: You can also follow all the action as it happens with Standard Sport’s live blog, run by Matt Verri at Wimbledon.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Murray has won both previous encounters between these two players.
The first was a four-set victory on his Grand Slam return at the 2018 US Open, while he also beat the Australian 6-3 6-4 at the 2019 Brisbane International in his match for four months.
Murray vs Duckworth prediction
Like Raducanu, there are ongoing fitness concerns over Murray, who will likely not be in the best physical condition this week.
But if his body holds up, and with coach Ivan Lendl back in his corner, the three-time Grand Slam champion will fancy his chances of a decent run at SW19 this year after a favourable-looking draw.
Duckworth has the potential to pose problems, but his form so far this year has been dreadful and he awaits his first non-qualifying victory of 2022.
It shouldn’t come here. Murray to win, potentially in straight sets.
