Djokovic, Murray, Kvitova-Stephens Open Day 1 At Wimbledon
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Per Wimbledon tradition, the men’s defending champion will open Centre Court play on Day 1 at Wimbledon, and that player is 5-time champion Novak Djokovic.
The streaking Serb who has won the last two Wimbledons and the last two Grand Slam events begins his title defense Monday against British teen Jack Draper.
“I honestly do not know too much about Draper,” Djokovic said. “I’ve seen him play a little bit in Queen’s, where he beat Sinner. I actually practiced with Sinner yesterday so I asked him a couple of questions about Draper’s game.
“I know he’s a lefty. I’ve seen him practice today a little bit. I have to do my homework, speak to more players, watch some of the videos of his most recent [matches] would probably be the best, most recent performances in Queen’s on grass.
“It can be very dangerous, very tricky playing against a home favorite, someone that doesn’t have much to lose, a guy who has beaten some really good players last week in Queen’s. I’m taking him very seriously.”
Djokovic is once again halfway to a Calendar Slam and seven match wins from tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on top of the all-time Grand Slam title leaderboard.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray returns to the club for the first time since 2017. Murray meets the high-powered No. 24 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is in his first action since Paris against American Frances Tiafoe. Denis Shapovalov, Dan Evans, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Marin Cilic and Gael Monfils are also on court in men’s top half action.
For the women, 2-time winner Petra Kvitova headlines against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens who played well at the French Open.
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka begins against the tricky Monica Niculescu. 2020 French champion Iga Swiatek faces the upset-minded Su-Wei Hsieh.
Former champion Garbine Muguruza is also featured along with Karolina Pliskova, Madison Keys and Sofia Kenin.
Serena Williams, Ash Barty and Roger Federer will begin their 2021 Wimbledon on Tuesday.
WIMBLEDON MONDAY SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT – 1:30PM
1. Novak Djokovic v Jack Draper
2. Sloane Stephens v Petra Kvitova
3. Andy Murray v Nikoloz Basilashvili
NO.1 COURT – 1:00PM
1. Monica Niculescu v Aryna Sabalenka
2. Stefanos Tsitsipas v Frances Tiafoe
3. Iga Swiatek v Su-Wei Hsieh
NO.2 COURT – 11:00AM
1. Fiona Ferro v Garbine Muguruza
2. Federico Delbonis v Andrey Rublev
3. Daniel Evans v Feliciano Lopez
4. Mihaela Buzarnescu v Venus Williams
NO.3 COURT – 11:00AM
1. Katie Swan v Madison Keys
2. Xinyu Wang v Sofia Kenin
3. Marco Cecchinato v Liam Broady
4. Denis Shapovalov v Philipp Kohlschreiber
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