134th edition of the Wimbledon Championships begins today

LONDON: The 134th edition of the Wimbledon Championships is all set to begin from Monday after it was cancelled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament will end on July 11.

While defending men's singles champion Novak Djokovic has confirmed his participation as the top seed, reigning women's singles winner Simona Halep has withdrawn from the competition owing to a calf-injury. Among other notable omissions, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Naomi Osaka stand out. On the other hand, the returning Roger Federer will be vying to lift his ninth Wimbledon trophy and extend his record on the historic grass-courts.

Novak Djokovic will start off his campaign on the grass-courts against teenage wildcard Jack Draper. Roger Federer, who turns 40 this year, takes on Adrian Mannarino in the first round. Andy Murray, taking part in the singles for the first time since 2017, has been drawn to play 24th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Serena Williams, the women's singles runner-up in 2019, will begin her latest quest to claim a record-equalling 24 Grand Slam titles, against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Ash Barty will prepare for a first-round match against Carla Suarez Navarro. Agencies

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