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Murray on Wimbledon collision course with Nadal

Andy Murray has won Wimbledon twice
Andy Murray has won Wimbledon twice

Andy Murray will defend his Wimbledon title from the same half of the draw as French Open champion Rafael Nadal and three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka.

Murray will face world number 134 Alexander Bublik in the opening round and in the second could face Dustin Brown, the German knocked out Nadal two years ago.

If Murray can navigate his way into the last 16, he might be fairly satisfied with his draw from then on.

Nick Kyrgios is a potentially dangerous foe in the fourth round but the Australian has been struggling with a hip injury and has never got the better of Murray in four attempts.

The world number one is then due to meet Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals but while the Swiss beat Murray at the French Open earlier this month, he is far less comfortable on grass.

Fellow two-time winner Nadal would certainly be a formidable opponent in the semis although Murray would likely have preferred the Spaniard to the in-form Roger Federer, who was the other possible top four seed to land in his half.

Murray has also been struggling for fitness, having lost in the first round at Queen's before pulling out of two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club this week due to a hip injury.

Federer is many pundits' favourite to win a 19th major title at SW19 but the 35-year-old opens up against the awkward Alexandr Dolgopolov, while Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Milos Raonic could all block his path to the semi-finals. There, he is due to meet Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic plays world number 44 Martin Klizan in round one before a potential match-up with Juan Martin del Potro in round three. Nadal begins against Australian John Millman.

With Serena Williams absent, the women's draw appears wide open.

Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep, the first and second seeds respectively, both drew qualifiers while Petra Kvitova begins against Sweden's Johanna Larsson.

Venus Williams is up against Belgium's Elise Mertens. Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion, is currently being investigated over a fatal car crash in the United States.

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