Tennis legends Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have both taken their places in the Wimbledon draw despite coming off recent surgeries.
Both 37-year-old past champions at the All England Club were in some doubt to put their hands up to play in the tournament, which starts on Monday.
World No.2 Djokovic had surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee less than a month ago, while Murray is still recovering after having a cyst removed from his spinal cord last weekend.
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The Scot said on Thursday that he would leave it until the last possible moment before deciding whether or not to play, but conceded at the time that it’s “more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now”.
“I’m going to wait until the last minute to see if I’m going to be able to and I’ve earned that right to do that,” he said.
“This is not clear-cut, whether I am 100 per cent going to be ready to play or there is a zero per cent chance that I can play.
“The rate that I’m improving just now, if that was to continue, then an extra 72 to 96 hours makes a huge difference.”
The two-time Wimbledon champion’s inclusion doesn’t completely rule out a last-minute decision to pull out but, as it stands, he is scheduled to play Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac on Tuesday.
He is also set to play doubles with his older brother Jamie after the pair were awarded wildcard entries.
Djokovic’s inclusion in the draw was of less surprise, having looked fit during practice this week.
He will play qualifier Vit Kopriva, who is also from the Czech Republic, on Tuesday.
Meantime, top-ranked Aussie Alex de Minaur has been handed a first-round draw against unpredictable French player Corentin Moutet as he sets out on his bid to become the first Australian men’s champion at Wimbledon in 22 years.
And the ninth seed could be on a collision course for a quarter-final with seven-time champion Djokovic.
Moutet is an unpredictable opener for de Minaur, who’s looking for his best run at Wimbledon after reaching the quarter-finals on his least favoured clay surface at Roland Garros before winning a grass-court event at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
A poet and piano player off the court, the world No.55 Moutet is famed for being an artist with his racquet on the court, while also being somewhat wild and unpredictable with his underarm serves and tirades against umpires.
De Minaur is scheduled to meet 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round if the Canadian can get past another Australian in Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.
In the women’s singles, Aussie wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic, fresh from reaching the Birmingham Classic final, will face another Wimbledon duel with former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, three years after they clashed in an ill-tempered fourth-round contest at SW19.
In that match, won in three sets by the Australian, the fiery Latvian called Tomljanovic the “worst player on the Tour” after she had been accused of faking injury.
It ended with Ostapenko confronting Tomljanovic at the net, telling her: “Your behaviour is terrible, terrible. You have zero respect.”
The pair have played twice since then in less acrimonious circumstances, with Ostapenko winning at both this year’s Australian Open and on grass in Eastbourne in 2022.
Australia’s other two women in the singles draw will face American opposition. National No.1 Daria Saville faces Peyton Stearns, while Olivia Gadecki — who said it was a “dream come true” to reach the main draw — will play a battle of the qualifiers against teenager Robin Montgomery.
Ten Australian men feature in the singles draw — the country’s largest representation for six years — with qualifier Alex Bolt landing the most difficult assignment against Norway’s eighth seed Casper Ruud as a reward for battling through an amazing qualifying week.
The 31-year-old South Australian was called up to play at Roehampton on Monday as an alternate following the late withdrawal of another player just 10 minutes before he was due on court.
Bolt went on to win all three of his matches, including a fightback from two sets and match-point down in his final encounter on Thursday against Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi, and he now must confront two-time French Open finalist Ruud.
In the women’s draw, top seed Iga Swiatek has a tough opener against 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, while reigning men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz will open on Monday against Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal.
– With AAP
