Wimbledon 2015: Murray in same part of draw as Nadal and Federer

Andy Murray (9/4 title second-favourite) is in the same half of the 2015 Wimbledon draw as fellow former winners, but declining tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Third seed Murray could also face French foe Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 16 before battles with the two all-time Grand Slam greats in the quarters and semis.

Prior to that, however, Great Britain’s number one must negotiate the early rounds starting with his opener against ATP world number 58 Mikhail Kukushkin. who represents Kazakhstan.

While Murray is in the same half of elder stars Federer, Nadal and Tsonga, he will be pleased to avoid the likes of Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, French Open winner Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori at least until the final.

Defending Wimbledon men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic (whose odds have lengthened from 11/8 to 7/5) begins his defence of the title against German player Phillip Kohlschreiber.

Fifth seed Nishikori, meanwhile, has a tough opener against clay court specialist Simone Bolelli of Italy.

Nadal and fellow Spaniard David Ferrer could meet in the last 16, but it’s the latter who will receive extra attention in round one as he takes on British hope James Ward.

‘King of clay’ Nadal (title odds of 18/1 from 12/1) battle Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci, while Federer (now 7/1 from 13/2) faces Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia.

Kyle Edmund, the British number three, has a daunting task of taking on Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who knocked Nadal out of Queen’s last week.

Wimbledon winner in 2002, Lleyton Hewitt, meanwhile, will face fellow veteran Jarkko Nieminen in the first round in what will be the Australian’s last ever tournament here. The victor of that match will likely face Djokovic in the second round.

Selected men’s singles first round matches
Novak Djokovic (1) v Philipp Kohlschreiber
Kei Nishikori (5) v Simone Bolelli
David Ferrer (8) v James Ward
Rafael Nadal (10) v Thomaz Bellucci
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13) v Gilles Muller
Andy Murray (3) v Mikhail Kukushkin
Roger Federer (2) v Damir Dzumhur
Stan Wawrinka (4) v Joao Sousa
Grigor Dimitrov (11) v Federico Delbonis
Milos Raonic (7) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver

Other Brits first round matches
Kyle Edmund v Alexandr Dolgopolov
Liam Broady v Marinko Matosevic
Brydan Klein v Andreas Seppi (25)
Aljaz Bedene v Radek Stepanek