Murray, who lost to one lucky loser, faces another

Andy Murray will begin the defence of his Wimbledon title tomorrow against Kazakh lucky loser Alexander Bublik.

The 134th-ranked Bublik made it into the main draw despite losing in the final round of the qualifying tournament.

The last time Murray played a lucky loser was in his first match at the Queens Club Championship last week – when he lost to world No 93 Jordan Thompson. At the time Murray was suffering from a sore hip, which has apparently healed.

Now the 30-year-old Scot is bidding to win Wimbledon for a third time. He was drawn on Friday in the same half as two-time champion Rafael Nadal, with three-times winner Novak Djokovic and seven-times champion Roger Federer placed in the bottom half.

If Murray wins tomorrow, he could play flamboyant German Dustin Brown in the second round, with Australian Nick Kyrgios a potential fourth-round opponent.

Should the seedings go to plan, the top seed will play Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals before taking on Nadal, the champion in 2008 and 2010.

Federer will begin his quest for a record eighth title with a match against world No 84 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.

Federer is seeded to face 27th seed Mischa Zverev of Germany in the third round, with Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov (13) likely to be waiting in the last 16.

French Open champion Nadal, who has not gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon since 2011, plays Australia’s John Millman in round one and is seeded to face Marin Cilic in the fourth round.

Djokovic plays Martin Klizan of Slovakia in his first-round match and could face Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round.

Women’s world No 1 Angelique Kerber opens up against US qualifier Irina Falconi and is seeded to face Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals.

With title holder Serena Williams taking time out to give birth to her first child, the women’s singles is wide open. —