Wimbledon - Murray faces Kendrick

Eurosport - Sat, 20 Jun 17:53:00 2009

World number three Andy Murray will begin his Wimbledon campaign against American world number 76 Robert Kendrick.

2009 Queen's Andy Murray - 0

The Brit is hoping to become the first winner of the men's title since Fred Perry in 1936.

On paper it might appear to be a gentle start for Murray but Kendrick took Rafael Nadal to five sets in the second round in 2006 and the Briton is unlikely to underestimate the threat he poses.

His quarter of the draw also includes 2008 semi-finalist Marat Safin, who is making his last appearance in London.

Rafael Nadal's withdrawal means Murray is the highest seed left in that half of the draw with number five seed Juan Martin Del Potro replacing Nadal at the top of the draw.

French Open champion Roger Federer, in pursuit of a record 15th Grand Slam title, and will open his account against Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun.

However, he will have noted that he could run into Roland Garros runner-up Robin Soderling for the second time in less than a month in the last 16. Big-serving Croatian dangerman Ivo Karlovic lurks as a potential last-eight opponent.

World number four Novak Djokovic will take on Frenchman Julien Benneteau and was drawn in the same half of the draw as Federer.

Murray's fellow Britons in the men's draw have all been handed tough opening matches.

James Ward has been paired against Fernando Verdasco, seeded seventh, from Spain, while Dan Evans plays number 12 seed Nikolay Davydenko, Alex Bogdanovic plays 20th seed Tomas Berdych and Josh Goodall plays Michael Llodra.

Defending women's champion and third seed Venus Williams, who is the favourite to win a sixth singles title at the grasscourt championships, faces Swiss Stefanie Voegele and could line up against world number one Dinara Safina in the semis.

There could be an all-Williams final showdown at Wimbledon for the second year running since the American sisters were picked in separate halves of the draw.

Second seed Serena Williams, the US and Australian Opens holder, will begin against Portuguese qualifier Neuza Silva and could face a quarter-final showdown against 2004 champion Maria Sharapova.

The top-half draw looks more treacherous for Venus since Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova all have the potential to trip her up if she has an off day.

Kuznetsova will first face Japan's Akiko Morigami and could run into Safina in the last eight in a repeat of the Roland Garros final.

Safina may, however, have to survive a fourth-round showdown with 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo if she wants to earn a chance to gain revenge.

Briton Anne Keothavong will open her account against Austrian Patricia Mayr, the world number 81, with a potential second round clash against number 32 seed Anna Chakvetadze on the cards.

Laura Robson, who gained a wildcard after winning the girls' title at The All England Club last year, will make her senior debut against former world number five Daniela Hantuchova.

Georgie Stoop faces Russian Vera Zvonareva, the number seven seed and winner of nine WTA titles, in her first round match while Mel South plays Mathilde Johansson, Katie O'Brien plays Iveta Benesova and Elena Baltacha plays Alona Bondarenko.

Reuters

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  1. cameron W and colin H......
    The same idiot with two of­ his usernames

    From Nicholas, on Sun 21 Jun 7:56PM

  2. AJ:
    come on now, don't beat about the bush . . .­ what do you think of Colin!

    From cameron w, on Sun 21 Jun 1:14PM

  3. Colin H is just vile vile vile enough said.

    From AJ, on Sat 20 Jun 3:20PM

  4. No.126 - we are ashamed that you admitted to be­ British, we TRUE BRITS really DO NOT NEED Tennis­ supporters like you.

    From dorothy B, on Sat 20 Jun 2:02PM

  5. No.130 [eddiewhatever!!] & No.127­ [irfanwhatever!!] - please refrain from displaying­ your ignorance - the Tennis Players are all sensible­ professionals and have a high regard for each other -­ Andy Murray was one of the first players to meet with­ Rafael Nadal after his announcement, to wish him well ­ - as do all TRUE TENNIS FANS - the game and the players­ surely DO NOT need supporters like you that are an­ embarrasement to the sport.

    From dorothy B, on Sat 20 Jun 1:58PM

  6. The easist draw ever for a seed, Andy has got only­ DelPotro who he meets in the semi.The bottom half of­ the draw is packed to the rafters­ Federer,Djokovic,Verdasko,Tsonga and some dark horses­ along the way.

    From kirovrtanoski, on Sat 20 Jun 12:15PM

  7. Andy Murry is a truly horrible person. I have never­ know so many British people hate one of there own­ sportsmen. I just hope that Nadal's absence­ doesn't give him the opportunity to win the­ tournament when he clearly doesn't deserve to.

    From eddielikestea, on Sat 20 Jun 11:01AM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    He's getting closer to Nadal and Federer ;In the­ last 18 months Andy Murray this , Andy Murray that. ­ Lets see his performances in the major events in the­ past 18 months.
    Aussie Open 08
    After winning in Qatar,­ Murray will be this, that and all. 1st round­ exit.
    French Open 08
    3rd round
    Wimbledon Open­ 08
    Quarter final
    Olympics 08
    Andy Murray, one of the­ hot favourites; 1st round exit
    U.S. Open 08
    runner-up­ ( the first and only time he made it to a GS­ semi-final)
    Aussie Open 09
    clear favourite, Murray will­ conquer; 4th round
    French Open 09
    he has improved a­ great deal, his groundstrokes, his movement; Quarter­ finals
    Wimbledon 09
    here we are again, he's getting­ closer and closer to Federer and Nadal, he now can play­ a 5-setter, he's fitter than ever. Lets wait and­ see how it goes.

    It doesnt neccessarily need a Federer­ or a Nadal to throw Andy Murray out of a Major­ tournament. There are a lot more players whose best­ forms can beat murray @ his best . the likes of ­ Djokovic, Gonzalez, Verdasco, Del Potro, Baghdatis,­ Roddick, Tsonga, Berdych, etc. So its not a guarantee­ that Murray will go all the way if there are no­ Federers and Nadals in the draw.

    From raulrelated, on Sat 20 Jun 9:50AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Murayy is not a tenis player, he is a real Idiot!!!!

    From irfankayagc, on Sat 20 Jun 9:37AM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    i am a British but i will never support Murray is an­ idiot

    From scott a, on Sat 20 Jun 3:48AM

  11. ha ha nice response

    From ralph, on Sat 20 Jun 12:16AM

  12. ralph r: I'm addicted to tennis not just to­ Federer and Nadal, but the game and all of its players.­ Glad you read "Jude The Obscure;" wish Jude­ would. As you say, two ph d's count for and should­ offer a lot more than my recent comments, which, by the­ way I have been offering consistently in these tennis­ comments column since, probably, before some of you­ were born. Alas, those worthier words never caught the­ eye, were never read so could not make a point. Seems­ that by subscribing to language that at least catches­ the eye (it caught yours, I see, but probably not­ Jude's). I'm at least able to get a toe-hole­ in this community of fans. I'm off duty when I put­ on my tennis freak hat,. Forget the Ph D's, just­ keep offering your opinions and stimulate other tennis­ fans' support of the game. I've ribbed you a­ couple of time to no avail. Ha, ha.

    From Hatsutking, on Fri 19 Jun 11:50PM

  13. how bizare picked up an old leather bound copy of jude­ the obscure last week, never heard of it before but­ liked the title, i will be thinking of your comments­ when i read it hatsuking, a few days ago i was going to­ ask u if u were a teacher, seems my intuition was­ right. "You demean Murray in order to annihilate­­ Federer! Wow! Such hatred and screwed perspective must­­ be genetic; couldn't possible develop such venom­ in­ one short lifespan...unless, that is, you be a­ snake.­ And your comments are not slimy enough for­ that. (You­ could practice, I guess.) You've lost­ your battle,­ kiddo" is this the only way a­ professor can get his point across, i would have­ thought 2 phds would count for more.

    From ralph, on Fri 19 Jun 11:21PM

  14. I agree 100% with you. I am huge Nadal's fan; Being­ Rafa absent and due to nearly all of your reasons, I­ will support Murray. In my opinion Andy has a game­ against Federer and what is the most important, he is a­ brave young man, who besides Rafa is not afraid of­ Roger and has winning record against him. The last­ reason is that Great Britain (I am not British), having­ W and the oldest tradition deserves W. champion

    From siskra83, on Fri 19 Jun 10:44PM

  15. I'm not a Murray fan, far from it, but now, with­ Nadal out, everybody thinks it's all about Federer,­ so I am gonna suport Murray.
    I think Federer is great,­ but for tennis' sake I hope he doesn't win­ again, he dominated the game so badly, that he actually­ made me lose interest in his prime years.
    Sure, people­ say Murray chokes on big occasions,that he doesn't­ stand a chance against Federer, but i really have the­ feeling he's grown up.
    If Murray doesn't have a­ chance of upsetting Federer, then who does?
    Roddick has­ a Federer complex, Verdasco hasn't been that­ consistent after AO, Djokovic is not on top of his­ game, Davydenko is yet to take a match form Federer,­ Soderling was probably a one tournament wonder.
    Murray­ is the only one that has a winning record, plus he has­ the crowd support, so I hope he can pull this of.­
    It's good to see someone new lifting the­ trophy.
    What do you guys think?

    From danyblueeye, on Fri 19 Jun 10:19PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    har har har har har har

    From Colin H, on Fri 19 Jun 9:12PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    AJ, Andy this and Andy that, you ponce

    From Colin H, on Fri 19 Jun 9:07PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    AJ is a turd lover

    From Colin H, on Fri 19 Jun 9:06PM

  19. Don't think AJ is overly keen on you mate . . . ­ har, har, har!

    From cameron w, on Fri 19 Jun 8:50PM

  20. So tell me Colin, what do you think of Andy Murray . .­ .har, har, har!

    From cameron w, on Fri 19 Jun 8:49PM
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