Tricky start at SW19 for wary Andy

ANDY MURRAY last night admitted he will ‘most likely’ be fit enough to take part at Wimbledon next week — but warned he is facing a ‘tricky’ first-round clash with temperamental Frenchman Benoit Paire. Paire was his last victim at SW19 — in the fourth round 51 weeks ago — before Murray hobbled to defeat to Sam Querrey and then

lost a year to the game with a hip injury from which he is still recovering. The 31-year-old Scot, who only returned to competitive action nine days ago, finds himself in the toughest section of the draw, with prospective first-week matches against Denis Shapovalov, the gifted young Canadian, and Juan Martin del Potro. Two-times Wimbledon champion Murray, who has previously said he won’t play if he doesn’t think he can compete properly, stated: ‘I feel alright, not much different to how I felt two days ago, really. ‘I’ll chat to my team this afternoon and also see how the next two days go. I’m playing sets and stuff tomorrow and then, yeah, but most likely, yeah, I’ll play. ‘The thing is, I obviously don’t know every single day how things will be. I need to play it a little by ear. I can’t predict how I’m going to feel in two days. ‘But if I feel like I do today in a couple of days, I’ll be playing.’ Asked about his match with Paire on Tuesday, world No 156 Murray said: ‘I guess I could have played one of the top players in the world. ‘At this stage, where I am, playing Paire in the first round is tricky for me. He is a very, very talented guy. He is awkward to play against.’ Paire, whose supreme talent comes with a temper and a sharp tongue, insisted he would be seeking revenge against Murray. The Frenchman, who, prior to last year’s clash, accused the Scot of suffering from an imaginary injury, was asked what he thought of the former world No 1 keeping everyone guessing over his involvement. ‘If he comes on court, it’s because he is 100 per cent,’ said Paire. ‘He has practised for a long time, so I’m going to try to do my best and see how he is. I feel I can do something good. I lost against him last year at the same tournament, so it will be revenge. ‘It was my first time on Centre Court, so now I know what that is like. I know I can beat anyone.’ It will be the first time since 2007 that Murray, whose coach Jamie Delgado was ordered to change into a plain white outfit by officials during their lunchtime session yesterday, is not the highest-seeded British player in the men’s draw. The man who has assumed that mantle, Kyle Edmund, faces Australian qualifier Andrew Bolt, and could meet Novak Djokovic in the third round. There are five British men and eight women in the draw, with the promising batch of GB females awarded wildcards generally receiving a difficult set of first round draws. One of the few exceptions is last year’s semi-finalist Jo Konta, who tackles world No 106 Natalia Vikhlyantseva. The other is Katie Boulter — who narrowly lost yesterday’s final of the Southsea Trophy event to Kirsten Flipkens — has been given a match against Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay. Any other first round wins would be a bonus. Stockport’s Naomi Broady faces defending champion Garbine Muguruza while Southampton’s Gabi Taylor will play 2014 finalist Eugenie Bouchard. Roger Federer will open the Centre Court programme on Monday against Serbian Dusan Lajovic, and could find himself with a second round match against today’s Eastbourne finalist Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. Serena Williams, seeded 25 in the women’s singles, makes her return against Holland’s Arantxa Rus. The first seed she is due to meet will be No5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.