Murray, Federer and Nadal drawn in same half

 

Originally published on: 21/06/13 00:00

The Swiss was drawn in the same quarter of the draw as French Open champion Nadal, seeded fifth for the Championships despite his impressive 43-2 record this season.

The pair, who have met 30 times during their careers, were responsible for one of the greatest ever matches at the All England Club, when Nadal defeated five-time defending champion Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7 in a thrilling final in 2008.

Federer will open his title defence against Victor Hanescu in the first match on Centre Court, while Nadal, who suffered a shock second-round defeat to Lukas Rosol last year, will take on Belgium's Steve Darcis.

It promises to be a blockbuster opening day at SW19, with Murray, Federer and Nadal all in action. The Scot, who is bidding to go one better than last year after he lost in the final to Federer, will kick off his Wimbledon campaign against Benjamin Becker. Fans could be treated to an all-British clash in the second round – Murray is likely to be James Ward's second-round opponent if he can negotiate his way past Lu Yen-Hsun.

Djokovic, looking to regain the title he won in 2011, faces a tough opening match in the guise of Germany's Florian Mayer, while fourth seed Ferrer has been drawn against Martin Alund.

Arguably the tie of the opening round pits former champion Lleyton Hewitt, who enjoyed an impressive run to the semi-finals at last week's Aegon Championships, against Stanislas Wawrinka. Other notable match-ups include Gilles Simon versus Feliciano Lopez, while there will be an all Serbian tie between Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki.

 

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