Wimbledon 2024 News Live: Andy Murray to provide injury update and latest preparations for tennis tournament

Coco Goff When she arrived, she couldn’t help but notice Wimbledon Walk past the Wall of Champions. On the grass courts of SW19, the past seven tournaments have produced seven different women’s champions, all with different names. “Sometimes this tournament looks a little different,” said the world number one Iga Swiatek“I feel like sometimes the underdog can win the game. The chances are better.”

Of course, no player in the draw can afford Swiatek at the French OpenThe Polish player won her third consecutive title last month and looked unbeatable on her favourite surface. But the switch from clay to grass proved challenging. Swiatek had to withdraw from her only grass-court warm-up tournament in Berlin, which did not help her preparations as she said she was “physically and mentally exhausted” after dominating on clay.

Alexander Zverev believes he can win Wimbledon and says it is the most open tournament in 20 years. The German fourth seed reached the Australian Open semi-finals and French Open final this season, but his best result at Wimbledon was the fourth round.

“This is the first time I really feel like I’m here to be a contender and maybe win a championship,” he said. “I didn’t feel that way when I came here the first few years. I didn’t feel like I had it. I didn’t believe I had it.

“I also think this is probably the most open Wimbledon we’ve had in 20 years in terms of favourites and potential winners. I think there are quite a few players who have a good chance of going far and winning the tournament.

I think that has not been the case for about 20 years, since Roger started playing, right? After Roger, Nadal, Novak, Andy came along. The number of players who can actually compete and win tournaments has been very limited.

“I really feel like things are different this year. I really feel like I can say I’m the guy who’s going to give it everything I’ve got.

“Do I need a little more luck, a little more things, a little more happening in this tournament? Yes, definitely. Maybe a little more than in other Grand Slams.”

“If these things go right, if these things go my way for once, do I believe I can win? Well, yes, I can.”

Third seed Aryna Sabalenka said she is “not 100 per cent physically fit” for Wimbledon. Sabalenka was forced to withdraw from the Berlin tournament last week with a shoulder injury.

Sabalenka said there was a “possibility” she might not be able to play in her first match on Monday.

“I’m not fully recovered yet,” she said, “and my team and I are doing everything we can to make sure I can play my first game here.

“It’s a really unique injury and it’s very rare. I’m probably the second or third tennis player to injure that muscle.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. The most annoying thing is, I can do everything. I can practice, I can hit my baseline shots. I struggle with my serve. It’s really annoying. You don’t feel like you’re hurt.

“If you give me some weights, I’m going to lift some weights. But if you tell me to serve, I’m going to play through the pain. We did MRIs, we did everything. We did a lot of rehab, therapy, everything.”

Centre Court – Exhibition Court – Start at 13:30

Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) (3) vs Mark Rahal (EST) 1

Ekaterina Alexandrova (22) vs Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) 2

Caroline Doerheide (USA) vs Coco Gough (USA) (2) 3

Court 1 – Exhibition Court – Starts at 13:00

Alexander Kovacevic (USA) vs Daniil Medvedev (5) 1

Emina Bektas (USA) vs Aryna Sabalenka (3) 2

Jannik Sinner (Italy) (1) vs Yannick Hanfmann (Germany) 3

Raducanu missed last year’s Wimbledon after undergoing surgery on both wrists and ankles, but he has shown good form on the grass-court tennis circuit this season. Including her first career top 10 finish Against Jessica Pegula in Eastbourne.

The former US Open champion was given a wild card ahead of her first Wimbledon match in two years and will face the Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round. Alexandrova reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year Could be a strong opponent.

Elsewhere, Alcaraz will face qualifier Marc Rajar, ranked No. 262 in the world, on Centre Court. Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic last year to win his first Wimbledon title and won his third career Grand Slam at the French Open last month.

Jannik Sinner, Coco Goff and Aryna Sabalenka is among the other star players taking part on the first Monday of the tournament, while British wildcard Charles Bloom faces a big-name opponent in three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.

Here’s the order of play and schedule for Monday’s Wimbledon tennis tournament

The shoulder injury was the most painful physical problem Draper has suffered recently, forcing him to miss the entire grass-court season and dropping him outside the top 100 in the rankings.

“It was really hard,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t just miss this tournament. I missed Queen’s, I missed the whole grass court thing. I think I was sitting on the couch most of the time, watching all the matches, and it was really frustrating.

“I watched the (Liam) Brodie and (Casper) Rudd match and Brodie did really well, it was amazing. I watched the whole final and obviously it was sad to see such a young guy win and show how good he is.

“That really, really motivated me, and I actually think it was a blessing in disguise because physically I wasn’t ready. I think mentally I wasn’t ready to be a top player either. It was a good break that I needed to get back to the passion that I needed. Since then, I’ve been great.”

Emma Raducanu She is confident about Wimbledon but not expecting much from her first match on Monday.

The former US Open champion performed well on English grass, reaching the semi-finals in Nottingham before losing to Katie Bolt She won her first ever top 10 match against a top 10 opponent in a very tight contest Jessica Pegula On the way Eastbourne quarter final.

She is one of the most dangerous unseeded players, but the draw is not friendly, with the Russian No. 22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrovawho has good experience on grass courts, is her first opponent.

“If I can get past the first round, I’ll be very happy,” Raducanu said.

“I think it’s a tough match. She’s highly seeded. Obviously it’s going to be a tough match. I think she has big weapons. Big weapons are only magnified on this kind of surface.”