Defending champion Andy Murray and fellow two-time winner Rafael Nadal take centre stage on the first day of Wimbledon on Monday, keen to deliver early hammer blows to any doubts over their title aspirations. Top seed and world number one Murray opens proceedings on Centre Court insisting a hip problem will not prevent him from dispatching Kazakh lucky loser Alexander Bublik. Murray is looking to become the first British player -- man or woman -- to defend a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry won Wimbledon from 1934-36. (AP)Nadal, on a high after his record-setting 10th French Open title just three weeks ago, will not be under-estimating the Australian after his recent experiences at Wimbledon. The 31-year-old Spaniard lost to world number 100 Lukas Rosol in 2012, number 135 Steve Darcis in 2013, Nick Kyrgios, the 144, in 2014 the 102-ranked Dustin Brown in 2015.

Source: Hindustan Times July 03, 2017 04:30 UTC