Andy and Jamie Murray, Katie Boulter and Jack Draper headline a blockbuster Thursday for British tennis at Wimbledon.
Two-time All England Club champion Murray will turn his attention to an appearance in the doubles competition alongside older brother Jamie after running out of time in his recovery following back surgery.
“I’m hoping for, when it comes to the end, maybe a bit of closure. I just want the opportunity to play one more time out there, hopefully on Centre Court, and… feel that buzz,” Murray said on Sunday.
“Last year, I wasn’t planning on it being my last year on the tour. I wanted to come back and play again. Whereas this year, I have no plans to do that. It’s coming to the end of my career.”
The Murray brothers will take on Australian pair Rinky Hijikata and John Peers with a potential second-round showdown against Neal Skupski and Michael Venus to come.
British No 1 Boulter is braced for a battle with compatriot Harriet Dart after she recovered from a poor start to beat former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria and set up an all-British second-round tie.
Boulter faces familiar foe Dart in what will be their eighth meeting, with the most recent going the way of Boulter in Nottingham last month for her sixth win against the world No 100.
“Playing a Brit in the UK on the grass is never an easy draw and I’m expecting an absolute battle,” Boulter said.
“I think we both know each other’s games inside-out, back-to-front at this point.
“We’ve played so many matches, but I do have to draw on the last things that I have played with her and use that to my advantage in the next round.
“I think it’s going to be extremely tough. I have a lot of respect for her on this surface. It’s one of her favourite ones. This is actually her home club, she’s been here since she was a tiny tot with her mum.
“It’s exciting. You have two Brits here who are playing some very good tennis. Yeah, she’s someone that’s going to make it very hard for me. I’m going to have to bring my A-game.”
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Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur head to the park to discuss the early stages of their relationship and how life has changed in the past year
British No 2 Dart admitted it would be great if the second-round tie could be on one of the show courts.
Dart added: “We’re team-mates, we played big tournaments, we’ve grown up together. We’ve been close.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s always going to be tricky, whoever I play, especially when you play a fellow Brit, but it’s great to see that all of us are doing well and putting us in positions where we do get to play each other, hopefully more so in the latter rounds.
“She’s been having an amazing year. She’s been playing great.
“It would be cool to play on a big court. A lot of people will play this tournament many times and not get the opportunity to play on the most historic court ever.”
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Boulter reveals which five guests she would invite to a dinner party. Listen to the full episode here on the Sky Sports Tennis podcast
No love lost
Jack Draper is the new British No 1
British superstar Draper comes up against Cameron Norrie just over a fortnight since dethroning him as his country’s leading men’s player.
The 22-year-old said: “I think we have huge respect for each other, for one. We’ve practised together so many times and been a part of Davis Cup together.
“I wouldn’t say we’re extremely close, but we definitely support each other. We definitely have a great relationship.
“Obviously he won’t like the fact that I’m British No 1 now. I’m a lot younger.
“Dan (Evans) and Cam definitely probably won’t like seeing me being British No 1. I think that creates a really healthy rivalry and environment.
“I think we all have great respect for each other. We all want to see each other succeed and do well. It’s nice to practise with him when I can. For sure, we’re all competitors, we’re all individuals.
“We want to win. We want to do the best we can. I think it’s going to be a really competitive match on Thursday. There won’t be any love lost, for sure.”
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A look back at the story of Jack Draper’s sensational victory at the Stuttgart Open
Norrie had a far easier path, setting aside his recent grass-court struggles with a straight-sets success over debutant Facundo Diaz Acosta.
The 28-year-old was a semi-finalist in 2022 but this summer suffered first-round exits at Queen’s and Eastbourne.
“I would say yeah,” replied Norrie when asked if will be the underdog for Thursday’s match. “Definitely, he’s ranked ahead of me.
“His results have been better than mine, especially over the grass-court season. He beat (Carlos) Alcaraz in Queen’s. I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s the favourite there.
“For me, it’s a surprise kind of being the underdog for the first time in a while. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m going to have to play my best level to have a chance with Jack. He’s playing so well at the moment.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge to play against him, but I’m looking forward to it. Yeah, I can go out, nothing to lose.”
Daunting clash for British No 13
Debutant Jacob Fearnley faces faces the ultimate test against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic
Elsewhere, wild card Jacob Fearnley faces a daunting clash against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
Fearnley only finished his five-year stint at Texas Christian University in May and was ranked outside the top 500 until he won an ATP Challenger event in Nottingham as a qualifier last month.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a little bit intimidating, but it’s a match that I’m super excited for. It’s the biggest match of my career so far. Just to be able to share the court with a player like that will be really special,” said the 22-year-old from Scotland.
“I’ve watched so many videos of him. It doesn’t look like there’s many flaws in his game. I’m going to just try and enjoy it, put my game out on the court and see what happens. I don’t think there’s many tactics going into the match.”
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