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Wimbledon 2023: Andy Murray, Elena Rybakina and Carlos Alcaraz in action on day two

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Published in Tennis
Monday, 03 July 2023 14:01

Britain's Andy Murray says he remains "one of the best grass-court players in the world" as he prepares to begin his Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old, who won the tournament in 2013 and 2016, plays British wildcard Ryan Peniston, 27.

Elsewhere on day two, women's champion Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur, who she beat in the 2022 final, are in action.

Men's number one Carlos Alcaraz plays, while British wildcards Arthur Fery and George Loffhagen have tough draws.

Fery and Loffhagen will both be making their Wimbledon debuts and are up against Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev and Danish sixth seed Holger Rune respectively.

Eight-time champion Roger Federer's achievements will also be honoured by a special ceremony on Centre Court on Tuesday.

The 41-year-old, who retired from tennis last year, will be celebrated before the start of play at about 13:15 BST.

'No reason why I can't have a good tournament'

It is 10 years since the first of Murray's two Wimbledon singles' titles - but the former world number one remains confident of his ability on grass.

"I believe I'm one of the best grass-court players in the world, and I'm physically feeling really good," said Murray. "I prepared well, so there's no reason why I can't have a good tournament."

He has not been beyond the third round at a Grand Slam since 2017, but chose to skip May's French Open and prioritise grass-court preparations.

He won the Challenge Tour events at the Surbiton Trophy and the Nottingham Open, winning 10 matches in a row, but then lost in the first round at Queen's Club to Australian Alex de Minaur.

That defeat meant Murray, 40th in the rankings, could not get seeded and he may now face fifth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in round two.

"I feel good," said Murray. "I've obviously played lots of matches. Physically I've been feeling good. I'm ready to go.

"I want to go out there and perform at a level that I'm happy with. I do feel like I'm in a really, really good position to do that.

"I have the experience at this tournament. There's only one player in the draw that has more experience of playing here than me, which is Novak [Djokovic].

"I feel very comfortable in these surroundings. I love coming to play the tournament here. When I walk out on to Centre Court to play, obviously I'm very nervous but incredibly excited to get the chance to perform here again on one of, if not the, most special court in our sport."

On world number 268 Peniston, who will be making his second Wimbledon appearance after reaching the second round in 2022, Murray added: "I know him pretty well.

"We've practised together quite a lot. He obviously likes playing on the grass courts. He's had some good wins on the surface. Lefty, moves very well - I need to be ready for that one."

Alcaraz, 20, plays French veteran Jeremy Chardy, 36 while British number one Cameron Norrie, a semi-finalist last year, faces 22-year-old Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, who will be making his Wimbledon debut after advancing through three rounds of qualifying last week.

Tsitsipas takes on 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem in one of the stand-out ties of the first round, with the winner to face Murray or Peniston in round two.

Rybakina aims for more glory after disrupted preparation

Defending women's champion Rybakina is hopeful she can play her way into form at Wimbledon after her preparation was disrupted by a virus.

The 24-year-old pulled out of the French Open before the third round because of illness and has played just two competitive matches on grass before she takes on American world number 49 Shelby Rogers.

"The preparation we did was good, but still not the amount of hours and work we wanted to put in - but we did the maximum we could," said Rybakina.

Rybakina said she was unable to do much tennis-wise for a week after the French Open, but added: "It's been tough, I think I'm ready.

"Hopefully with every match I'm going to feel better - [it is] important just to start and then we will see how I feel.

"I think if I'm going to get matches more on grass, I will feel more confident."

British wildcards Heather Watson and Sonay Kartal have tough matches against 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and 25th seed Madison Keys, who won Eastbourne on Saturday, respectively.

Sixth seed Jabeur meets Poland's Magdalena Frech, the world number 70, with eighth seed Maria Sakkari taking on Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and ninth seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, facing Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka will be playing at Wimbledon for the first time since losing in the 2021 semi-finals and is against Hungary's Panna Udvardy, ranked 83rd.

Sabalenka of Belarus was unable to play in the 2022 competition as Belarusian and Russian players were banned following Russia's invasion of Ukraine - and the 25-year-old says missing out was a tough experience.

"I didn't watch Wimbledon a lot," she said. "I felt so bad and I just couldn't watch it. Every time if Wimbledon would be on TV, I would cry, so I decided just to stay away from Wimbledon last year.

"I am always telling myself that the best I can do is focus on things I have control on. That is really helping a lot to not think about anything else on the tennis."

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