Raducanu and Murray ready for day one of Wimbledon

Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July
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British women’s number one Emma Raducanu and two-time champion Andy Murray are set for Centre Court when Wimbledon gets under way on Monday.

The 19-year-old says she is “ready to go” at SW19 after a week of uncertainty caused by a side strain.

Asked if it led to concerns she could not play, she said: “There were moments in the week we weren’t really sure.”

Murray has also faced a race to be fit but says the past few days have been “really positive” after being hampered by an abdominal injury which forced him out of Queen’s.

“I feel like I’m in a good place,” said the 35-year-old unseeded Scot, who plays Australia’s James Duckworth on the 15,000-seater court after Raducanu’s match.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who is the defending men’s champion, opens the tournament on Centre Court at 13:30 as tradition dictates.

As well as Raducanu and Murray, there are seven other British players in action on Monday.

British men’s number one Cameron Norrie, seeded ninth, opens play on court two at 11:00 against Spain’s Pablo Andujar.

Heather Watson and Ryan Peniston play back-to-back on court three, with Lily Miyazaki, Jodie Burrage, Jay Clarke and Katie Swan also bidding to reach the second round.

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur opens Court One at 13:00 when she faces Swedish qualifier Mirjam Bjorklund, followed by the opening matches for Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz and 2018 champion Angelique Kerber.

It’s full steam ahead – Raducanu

Raducanu pulled out of the Eastbourne International last week because of the strain, leaving her short of grass-court preparation before Wimbledon.

She managed just seven games against Viktorija Golubic at the Nottingham Open before retiring from the match, which has been her only outing on the grass this summer.

Raducanu practised at Wimbledon as scheduled on Saturday, appearing to serve normally and with a full range of shots.

Afterwards in her pre-tournament news conference, the 10th seed did not say if she was still feeling pain because of the problem.

“Right now I’m fit. I’m ready to go. I’m looking forward to it – that’s it,” said Raducanu, who reached the last 16 on her Wimbledon debut last year.

“We were sort of going to see how the week goes, but it went pretty well.

“Now it’s full steam ahead. Everyone’s really looking forward to it.”

Murray has been left frustrated by an abdominal injury which he picked up in the Stuttgart final on 12 June.

It is the latest niggling setback for the former world number one and came just as he began to look in good form on the grass courts.

After saying on Monday he could still not hit specific shots because of the injury, Murray has upped the workload and appeared to be serving normally in practice with fellow Briton Dan Evans on Friday.

“I’ve been able to gradually progress my training this week and got to play a few sets, a lot of points,” said the 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon champion.

“The past few days have been good.”

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