Wimbledon hope Alex de Minaur will play his first-round match in opposition to in-form Australian compatriot James Duckworth following post-draw drama on the All England Membership.
Ninth seed de Minaur had orginally been pitted in opposition to unpredictable French participant Corentin Moutet in Friday’s draw which has put him on a collision course for a quarter-final with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
However lower than three hours after the draw had been accomplished, Moutet withdrew from the Championships with a wrist damage, providing up a dream alternative for Duckworth, who had been knocked out within the remaining spherical of qualifying, to play his fellow Sydneysider de Minaur as a ‘fortunate loser’.
Second seed Djokovic is ready to play simply weeks after present process knee surgical procedure and has been practising all week on the All England Membership. His first-round opponent shall be Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva.
However whereas world No.55 Moutet had promised to be an unpredictable aptitude opponent, Duckworth, the world No.78 who’s having a revival at 32 after an injury-scarred profession, poses simply as a lot hazard to de Minaur, having just lately reached a quarter-final on the Stuttgart grass. De Minaur gained their solely earlier conflict.
With one Australian then at the least assured a second-round place, de Minaur continues to be favorite to satisfy seventeenth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime within the third spherical ought to the Canadian get previous one other Australian in Thanasi Kokkinakis within the first spherical.
A possible titanic fourth-round date with Hubert Hurkacz would additionally must be negotiated for ‘Demon’ earlier than any matchup with Djokovic.
Within the ladies’s singles, Aussie wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic, contemporary from reaching the Birmingham Traditional remaining, will face one other Wimbledon duel with former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, three years after they clashed in an ill-tempered fourth-round contest at SW19.
In that match, gained in three units by the Australian, the fiery Latvian referred to as Tomljanovic the “worst participant on the Tour” after she had been accused of faking damage.
It ended with Ostapenko confronting Tomljanovic on the web, telling her: “Your behaviour is horrible, horrible. You have got zero respect.”
(Picture by Julian Finney/Getty Photos)
However Tomljanovic was adamant on Friday that there was no unhealthy blood between the pair any extra after additionally having met – and been crushed – by Ostapenko in Eastbourne in 2022 and at this yr’s Australian Open.
“We’re cool, I’d say,” stated Tomljanovic. “Look, for me, what occurred is previously.”
Australian No.1 Daria Saville faces American Peyton Stearns, whereas Olivia Gadecki – who stated it was a “dream come true” to succeed in the primary draw – will play a battle of the qualifiers in opposition to US teenager Robin Montgomery.
With Duckworth’s late inclusion, 11 Australian males characteristic within the singles draw, with qualifier Alex Bolt touchdown essentially the most tough task in opposition to Norway’s eighth seed Casper Ruud as reward for battling by means of an incredible qualifying week.
The 31-year-old South Australian was referred to as as much as play at Roehampton on Monday as an alternate following the late withdrawal of one other participant simply 10 minutes earlier than he was due on courtroom.
Bolt went on to win all three of his matches, together with a fightback from two units and match-point down in his remaining encounter on Thursday in opposition to Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi, and he now should confront two-time French Open finalist Ruud.
Reigning males’s champion Carlos Alcaraz will open up on Monday in opposition to Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal, with Australian Aleksandar Vukic in line to satisfy him if he can get previous powerful Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
Who the Aussies face in first spherical
Males’s singles
9-Alex de Minaur v James Duckworth
Chris O’Connell v 13-Taylor Fritz (USA)
Aleksandar Vukic v Sebastian Ofner (AUT)
Jordan Thompson v Pavel Kotov (RUS)
Thanasi Kokkinakis v 17-Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
Alexei Popyrin v Thiago Monteiro (BRA)
Adam Walton v Federico Coria (ARG)
Max Purcell v Otto Virtanen (FIN)
Rinky Hijikata v Flavio Cobolli (ITA)
Alex Bolt v 8-Casper Ruud (NOR)
Ladies’s singles
Ajla Tomljanovic v 13-Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
Daria Saville v Peyton Stearns (USA)
Olivia Gadecki v Robin Montgomery (USA)
© AAP
