Defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray insisted that he is “feeling good” despite withdrawing from two exhibition matches with a hip injury.
Murray, who will begin the defence of his Wimbledon title against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik on Monday, practiced three times yesterday, just a day after he was due to play a match at London's Hurlingham Club.
The situation is far from ideal for the 30-year-old, who was also beaten in the first round of the Aegon Championships by world number 86 Jordan Thompson last week.
It is traditional for the defending men’s champion to play the opening match on Centre Court at SW19 and, after first winning the title in 2013, it will be the second time that the Brit has inaugurated the prestigious event.
Qualifier up first but Krygios and Wawrinka could await
On the other side of the net, Bublik, a 20-year-old ranked 134th in the world, will be playing his first ever Grand Slam singles match.
The 6ft 4in Kazak only qualified for the main draw as a lucky loser, after he was defeated in the final round of qualifying earlier this week.
Should Murray progress - if fully fit it would be a monumental shock if he didn’t - he will play either Portugal’s Joao Sousa or the entertaining but dangerous Dustin Brown in round two.
Looking further ahead, the Brit could meet Nick Krygois in round four and fifth seed Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal, seeded four, is in the same half of the draw as Murray, though the Spaniard hasn’t made it past the fourth round at The All England Club since 2011.
Nadal, who missed last year’s event with a wrist injury, will face Australian John Millman in round one.
On the opposite side, Roger Federer, fresh from winning an unprecedented ninth title in Halle last week, will begin his campaign against Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov.
A tough start for Djokovic
Meanwhile 2014 champion Novak Djokovic will take on left-hander Martin Klizan, and could meet former US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round.
In the women’s draw, world number one Angelique Kerber will start against qualifier Irina Falconi, while second seed Simona Halep will play New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic, who also came through qualifying.
Konta hoping to make Wimbledon breakthrough
All eyes will be on Britain’s Johanna Konta, seeded six, however the 26-year-old is still yet to make it past the second round at Wimbledon.
First up for Konta is 31-year-old Su-Wei-Hsieh, the woman she lost to in the opening round of the French Open last month.
The Brit also finds herself in the same section of the draw as 2014 champion Petra Kvitova, who she could meet as early as the fourth round.
Konta’s British compatriots Laura Robson and Heather Watson will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia and Belgian Maryna Zanevska respectively.