Murray to face Lapentti, Henman up against Moya at Wimbledon

13 April 2012

Andy Murray will face Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in the first round at Wimbledon if he recovers from his wrist injury.

Murray will leave it until Monday when the championships begin before making a final decision on his fitness after sustaining tendon damage to his right wrist in Hamburg last month.

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Striving to be fit: Andy Murray gets in some practice this week

Lapentti, 31, is ranked 63rd in the world and reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club in 2002. British number two Tim Henman also faces a tough opener to the 2007 Championships after being drawn against Spain's Carlos Moya.

Henman has suffered an alarming slump in form this season and Moya, who is seeded 25th but ranked 22 in the world, will be favourite to pile further misery on the beleaguered 31-year-old.

British number three Alex Bogdanovic, who was knocked out of the third round of the Artois Championships by Andy Roddick, will meet Chris Guccione of Australia.

Roger Federer will open his Wimbledon defence against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili, ranked 85 in the world, with the Swiss star targeting a fifth successive title at SW19.

Federer's conquerer in the final of the French Open, Rafael Nadal, has been given a far harder opener however with Mardy Fish of the USA his first-round opponent.

Second seed and world number three Andy Roddick will play Justin Gimelstob in an all-American first-round match.

Roddick, a runner up at the All England Club in 2004 and 2005, moved up two places in the rankings last week following his success at Queen's.

The 24-year-old is in the same half of the draw as Federer but is not scheduled to meet the number one seed until the semi-finals.

Roddick's Davis Cup team-mate James Blake, the number nine seed, will face Russia's Igor Andreev in the first round.

If Murray proves fit and Henman can overcome his tricky start to the championships, then the British duo could meet in a mouth-watering third round collision.

Henman would also have to beat fellow Brit and wildcard Joshua Goodall to set up the clash with Murray. Murray is desperately short of match practice after missing the French Open and Queen's with his wrist injury, but faces reasonably easy passage until the quarter-finals where Roddick will almost certainly lie in wait.

Top seed Justine Henin opens her campaign against Argentinian qualifier Jorgelina Cravero with the French Open champion on course to face Serena Williams in the semi-finals.

Williams, the American world number seven, faces a simple opener against Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain, who was knocked out in the opening round of last year's championships.

Second seed Maria Sharapova should have more trouble dispatching Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Tapei and could meet compatriot Dinara Safina in the fourth round, while defending champion Amelie Mauresmo faces Jamea Jackson of the USA in her opening match.

Interest in British women at this year's Wimbledon is likely to be short-lived with the nation's clutch of wildcards mostly drawing seeded opposition.

British number one Anne Keothavong heads the queue of likely first round victims after being paired with Serbian Jelena Jankovic, the third seed who reached the semi-finals of the French Open.

Naomi Cavaday has also had the misfortune of drawing a big name for her opener with former Wimbledon champion and number nine seed Martina Hingis providing the opposition.

It gets marginally easier for Elena Baltacha, who faces 19th seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia, while Melanie South meets Japanese 26th seed Ai Sugiyama.

British number two Katie O'Brien may be the nation's single standard bearer in the second round after being handed a tie against little known German Sandra Klosel.

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