Murray drawn to face Paire

ANDY Murray has been drawn to face France’s Benoit Paire in the Wimbledon first round after the two-time champion entered the All England Club draw yesterday.

Murray had left his participation in the grass-court Grand Slam to the last minute as the former world number one makes tentative progress in his return from hip surgery.

played The just 31-year-old three matches Scot since has making his comeback last week after 11 months on the sidelines.

Murray, whose ranking has dropped to 156, had an operation on his right hip in January and only returned to action on June 18 when he was beaten by Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s Club.

The three-time Grand Slam winner saw off Stan Wawrinka at Eastbourne on Monday but after losing to fellow Briton Kyle Edmund on Wednesday he conceded his fitness was still an issue. Despite his lack of match practice, Murray has apparently opted to give it a go at his home Grand Slam, where he will play in a best of five sets tournament for the first time since his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat against Sam Querrey. Murray, who defeated Paire in straight sets at Wimbledon last year, could still withdraw from the tournament right up until the scheduled start of his clash with the world number 48. Wimbledon starts on Monday and Murray, who hasn’t publicly announced he is fit enough to play, is due to face the media in a press conference today. Defending champion Roger Federer, in his 20th visit to the tournament, opens his bid for a ninth Wimbledon crown against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.