By Mike Dickson
Andy Murray is likely to face a firing squad of big servers before he can make it through to the latter stages of Wimbledon.
The British No 1 received a punishing draw as he tries to set up a repeat of last year's semi-final against world No 2 Rafael Nadal. The bookmakers are not too keen on Murray's chances, shifting his odds from 6-1 out to double figures.
Race for glory: Andy Murray has been handed a tricky route to the Wimbledon final
Although the 25-year-old Scot has a comfortable first-round match on Tuesday against out-of-form Nikolay Davydenko, from the second round it will almost certainly get much tougher with a match against 6ft 9in Croat Ivo Karlovic.
He then could meet brilliant 21-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or 6ft 7in South African Kevin Anderson.
Queen's winner Marin Cilic or the turbopowered Canadian Milos Raonic await in round four.
If Murray does manage to get through all that he will face his Grand Slam nemesis Nadal, who is in the same half as him for the 16th out of 18 times.
Murray's former coach Brad Gilbert remains positive though, saying: 'It's a rough draw but Andy often plays well against the big guys. His long reach on the return of serve is very useful against them and the match-up allows him to use his excellent defensive skills.'
Defending champion Novak Djokovic, who, with Roger Federer, is in the easier looking top half of the draw, opens proceedings on Monday with a match against Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Andy Murray is likely to face a firing squad of big servers before he can make it through to the latter stages of Wimbledon.
The British No 1 received a punishing draw as he tries to set up a repeat of last year's semi-final against world No 2 Rafael Nadal. The bookmakers are not too keen on Murray's chances, shifting his odds from 6-1 out to double figures.
Race for glory: Andy Murray has been handed a tricky route to the Wimbledon final
Although the 25-year-old Scot has a comfortable first-round match on Tuesday against out-of-form Nikolay Davydenko, from the second round it will almost certainly get much tougher with a match against 6ft 9in Croat Ivo Karlovic.
He then could meet brilliant 21-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or 6ft 7in South African Kevin Anderson.
Queen's winner Marin Cilic or the turbopowered Canadian Milos Raonic await in round four.
If Murray does manage to get through all that he will face his Grand Slam nemesis Nadal, who is in the same half as him for the 16th out of 18 times.
Murray's former coach Brad Gilbert remains positive though, saying: 'It's a rough draw but Andy often plays well against the big guys. His long reach on the return of serve is very useful against them and the match-up allows him to use his excellent defensive skills.'
Defending champion Novak Djokovic, who, with Roger Federer, is in the easier looking top half of the draw, opens proceedings on Monday with a match against Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Other Brits have cause for optimism. Aside from Jamie Baker taking on Andy Roddick, 18-year-old Laura Robson - likely to enter the top 100 on Monday - has a fascinating match against 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who has had a relatively disappointing year. And Heather Watson may fancy her chances against 52nd-ranked Iveta Benesova.
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