Wimbledon draw pits Andy Murray against Alexander Bublik in first round and same half as Rafael Nadal

By Raz Mirza

Image: Andy Murray will begin his Wimbledon title defence against qualifier or a lucky loser

Andy Murray will begin his Wimbledon title defence against Alexander Bublik and has been drawn in the same half as French Open champion Rafael Nadal.

Murray's fitness is still in question after pulling out of two matches earlier this week due to a sore hip and his preparations for the defence on his title have been hit, with a straight-sets first-round exit to lucky loser Jordan Thompson at Queen's compounding a concerning build-up.

He will open the tournament against lucky loser Bublik who is the world No 134 from Kazakhstan.

Murray could face Portugal's Joao Sousa or Dustin Brown in the second round, the German showman famously defeated Nadal at Wimbledon in 2015 when he was ranked at 102, while big-hitting Italian Fabio Fognini may lurk in round three. The Italian ended Murray's defence of his Rome Masters title in the second round earlier this year.

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Murray could then meet world No 15 and recent Stuttgart winner Lucas Pouille from France in the fourth round before a projected quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka and a chance for revenge after the Swiss ended his French Open hopes in last four earlier in June.

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The Scot could face former two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal in the semi-finals before a mouth-watering clash against multiple winners Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday 16 July.

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Image: Novak Djokovic could face Juan Martin del Potro in round three

Second seed Djokovic tackles Slovakia's Martin Klizan before a tricky possible third round clash with old rival Juan Martin del Potro.

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Federer, seeded third, starts against Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine while fourth-seeded Nadal has Australia's John Millman in the first round.

Federer has a possible last-16 duel with Grigor Dimitrov and quarter-final against either 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic or Alexander Zverev who was swept aside by the Swiss star in the Halle final last week where the 35-year-old claimed a ninth title.

Federer crushed Alexander Zverev to clinch a ninth Halle title last week

Nadal, meanwhile, has big-serving Gilles Muller as a possible last-16 foe and Japan's Kei Nishikori or former US Open winner Marin Cilic in the last eight.

British No 2 Kyle Edmund will play world No 855 Alex Ward who became Britain's latest unlikely Wimbledon qualifier, while wildcard Cameron Norrie faces No 17 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Aljaz Bedene will take on huge-hitting No 23 Ivo Karlovic, James Ward takes on 2006 Wimbledon semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis, and Brydan Klein is drawn to play Yuichi Sugita of Japan.

Andy Murray route to Wimbledon glory

First round Alexander Bublik
Second round Joao Sousa or Dustin Brown
Third round Fabio Fognini
Fourth round Lucas Pouille or Nick Kyrgios
Quarter-finals Stan Wawrinka
Semi-finals Rafael Nadal
Final Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer

For those on the move, we will have Wimbledon covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Can Andy Murray defend his All England Club title this summer? Have your say...

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