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Wimbledon 2024: Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray are in draw after recent operations

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both were placed in the Wimbledon bracket during Friday’s draw despite coming off recent operations. That’s no guarantee either 37-year-old past champion at the All England Club will actually compete at the event that begins Monday. But Djokovic, at least, has looked in practice sessions this week as though he is ready to go, less than a month after having surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee. He has won seven of his men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.

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Wimbledon 2024: Djokovic and Murray in the Draw After Operations

  • Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are included in the Wimbledon draw despite recent surgeries.
  • Djokovic practiced this week after knee surgery and aims for his eighth Wimbledon title.
  • Murray, recovering from spinal surgery, may prioritize doubles with his brother Jamie.
  • Murray’s first-round singles match against Tomas Machac is scheduled for Tuesday.
  • Djokovic will face Vit Kopriva in his opening match on Tuesday.
  • Potential men’s quarterfinals include Sinner vs. Medvedev, Alcaraz vs. Ruud, Djokovic vs. Hurkacz, and Zverev vs. Rublev.
  • Iga Swiatek, top-seeded in women’s singles, faces Sofia Kenin in the first round.
  • Potential women’s quarterfinals include Swiatek vs. Vondrousova, Rybakina vs. Pegula, Gauff vs. Paolini, and Sabalenka vs. Zheng.
  • Other notable women’s first-round matches feature Raducanu vs. Alexandrova, Osaka vs. Parry, and Azarenka vs. Stephens.

The Associated Press has the story:

Wimbledon 2024: Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray are in draw after recent operations

Newslooks- WIMBLEDON, England (AP) —

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both were placed in the Wimbledon bracket during Friday’s draw despite coming off recent operations. That’s no guarantee either 37-year-old past champion at the All England Club will actually compete at the event that begins Monday.

FILE – Serbia’s Novak Djokovic receives medical assistance for his right knee during his fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Monday, June 3, 2024. Novak Djokovic withdrew from the French Open with an injured right knee on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, ending his title defense and meaning he will relinquish the No. 1 ranking. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)

But Djokovic, at least, has looked in practice sessions this week as though he is ready to go, less than a month after having surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee. He has won seven of his men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia sits in his chair as ground staff look on during a training session on Court 2 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2024. The Wimbledon Championships begin on July 1. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Murray, a two-time trophy winner at the grass-court tournament, made clear on Thursday that he would wait until the last moment to decide whether or not to play and was likelier to do so in doubles — where he and his older brother, Jamie, were awarded a wild-card entry — than in singles. He had a cyst removed from his spinal cord last weekend.

FILE – Andy Murray of Britain plays a return to Jordan Thompson of Australia during their men’s singles match on day five of The Queen’s Club tennis tournament, in London, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray still had not decided as of Thursday whether he will be able to compete at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament that begins next week and he is likelier to enter doubles than singles if he can play at all after recent surgery to remove a cyst on his spinal cord. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

The unseeded Murray’s first-round singles match against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic will be scheduled for Tuesday, giving the Scot an extra day to try to be ready. It was in a match against Machac at the Miami Open in March that Murray tore ligaments in his left ankle, one of a series of injuries he’s dealt with in the latter stages of his career. Murray says he plans to retire after, he hopes, participating in Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, which begin next month.

Djokovic is also slated to begin on Tuesday, going up against qualifier Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic.

El serbio Novak Djokovic en una sesión de entrenamiento en la cancha 2 del All England Club antes del inicio de Wimbledon el viernes 28 de junio del 2024. (AP Foto/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The men’s quarterfinals could be No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner vs. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 8 Casper Ruud on the top half of the bracket, with No. 2 Djokovic vs. No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz, and No. 4 Alexander Zverev vs. No. 6 Andrey Rublev on the bottom half.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz plays a shot on the practice court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on July 1st, in London, Friday June 28, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

That sets up a possible semifinal between Sinner, who is 22, and Alcaraz, 21. They are already developing quite a rivalry; Alcaraz beat Sinner in the semifinals at the French Open this month en route to the title there.

There was a bit of confusion during the women’s draw — overseen by new tournament referee Denise Parnell — when several names were placed on the wrong lines and needed to be reshuffled.

Poland’s Iga Swiatek plays a volley on the practice court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on July 1st, in London, Friday June 28, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek has never been past the quarterfinals at the All England Club and was given a path that could be filled with past Grand Slam champions.

Her opening opponent will be 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, who eliminated Coco Gauff in the first round at Wimbledon a year ago — less than three months before Gauff would go on to win the U.S. Open. Swiatek could face 2018 Wimbledon champ Angelique Kerber in the third round, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth, and defending Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinals. Ostapenko is 4-0 against Swiatek over their careers.

Italy’s Jannik Sinner plays a shot on the practice court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on July 1st, in London, Friday June 28, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

The other potential women’s quarterfinals are 2022 winner Elena Rybakina vs. No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula on the top half of the bracket with Swiatek-Vondrousova, and No. 2 Gauff vs. No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, and No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 8 Zheng Qinwen on the bottom half.

Gauff’s initial opponent will be another American, Caroline Dolehide. Other first-round women’s matchups include 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu against No. 22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, four-time major champion Naomi Osaka against Diane Parry, and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka against 2017 U.S. Open champ Sloane Stephens.

In the men’s bracket, Alcaraz will open his title defense against Mark Lajal, who will be making his Grand Slam main-draw debut after earning a spot through qualifying. Sinner starts against Yannick Hanfmann, who is 0-2 in Slam matches, and could meet 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the second round.

FILE – Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova celebrates with the trophy after beating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the women’s singles final on day thirteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Saturday, July 15, 2023. This year’s Wimbledon tournament begins on Monday, July 1.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

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