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Wimbledon 2015: Novak Djokovic & Serena Williams in action

Wimbledon 2015: Novak Djokovic & Serena Williams in action
29.06.2015 12:28
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams will take the spotlight when Wimbledon gets under way on Monday.

Defending champion Djokovic opens play on Centre Court against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at 13:00 BST.

Williams, who is half way to a possible calendar Grand Slam, plays Russia's Margarita Gasparyan on Court One.

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova takes on Johanna Konta, one of four Britons in action on day one, in the second match on Centre Court.

Konta will be making her debut on the main show court, to be followed by French Open champion Stan Wawrinka against Portugal's Joao Sousa.

British number one Heather Watson plays French 32nd seed Caroline Garcia last on Court Two.

Play on the outside courts gets under way at 11:30 BST, with wildcard Liam Broady taking on Australian Marinko Matosevic first on court 18 and the Briton's sister, Naomi Broady, up against Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino later in the day.

Andy Murray, Laura Robson, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Petra Kvitova will be among those in action on Tuesday, when temperatures are expected to push 30C as hot weather is forecast for the opening days.

A record prize fund of £26.75m is on offer at the 129th Championships, with the men's and women's singles champions each receiving £1.88m and first-round losers collecting £29,000.

Almost half a million spectators will pass through the gates of the All England Club over the 13 days of action, with upwards of 140,000 portions of strawberries eaten.

With all the leading names fit, interest will centre on whether home favourite Murray can recapture the title he won in 2013, if Williams can complete the third leg of the Grand Slam and if Djokovic can recover from his French Open final defeat.

Djokovic, the champion in 2011 and 2014, faces a testing opener against Kohlschreiber, the world number 33.

"It's one of the toughest first rounds I could get but this is a Grand Slam," said the 28-year-old Serb.

"This is what it takes. You need to step out there and perform your best, win against the best players in the world if you want to keep on going."

Williams, 33, begins her campaign for a sixth Wimbledon title that would take her within sight of matching Steffi Graf's calendar Grand Slam of 1988.

"I really don't feel that pressure," said the American, who has already won the Australian and French Opens in 2015.
"Maybe if I would happen to win here, then I might start feeling it."

Sharapova, the 2004 champion, will face British number two Konta, who reached her first WTA quarter-final in Eastbourne last week.

"We've never played against each other before," said the Russian. "That's always tricky in the first round of a Grand Slam."

Among other notable matches on the opening day, Australia's 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt will begin his final Wimbledon against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland on Court Two.

The 34-year-old former world number one plans to retire after the Australian Open next January.

(BBC)

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