AP – Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both were placed in the Wimbledon bracket during yesterday’s draw despite coming off recent operations.
That’s no guarantee either 37-year-old past champion at the All England Club will actually compete at the event that begins on Monday. But Djokovic, at least, has looked in practice sessions this week as though he is ready to go, less than a month after having surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee. He has won seven of his men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.
Murray, a two-time trophy winner at the grass-court tournament, made clear on Thursday that he would wait until the last moment to decide whether or not to play and was likelier to do so in doubles – where he and his older brother, Jamie, were awarded a wild-card entry – than in singles. He had a cyst removed from his spinal cord last weekend. The unseeded Murray’s first-round singles match against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic will be scheduled for Monday, giving the Scot an extra day to try to be ready.
It was in a match against Machac at the Miami Open in March that Murray tore ligaments in his left ankle, one of a series of injuries he’s dealt with in the latter stages of his career. Murray says he plans to retire after, he hopes, participating in Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, which begin next month.
Djokovic is also slated to begin on Monday, going up against qualifier Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic.
The men’s quarter-finals could be number one seed Jannik Sinner versus number five Daniil Medvedev, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz versus number eight Casper Ruud on the top half of the bracket, with number two Djokovic versus number seven Hubert Hurkacz, and number four Alexander Zverev versus number six Andrey Rublev on the bottom half.
