Wimbledon

Murray opens defence against Belgian youngster

ESPN staff

June 20, 2014

Twelve months ago, Andy Murray became the first British man in 77 years to triumph at Wimbledon © Getty Images

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Andy Murray will open his Wimbledon defence against world No.104 David Goffin.

Murray and Goffin, who have never faced each other before, will begin at 1pm UK time on Centre Court on Monday.

All change for Murray

Is the pressure off Murray? © PA Photos

A new coach, a pain-free back and a weight of expectation lifted from his shoulders - Andy Murray should revel in his return to Centre Court, writes Mark Hodgkinson.
Meanwhile, ESPN columnist and former British No.1 Chris Wilkinson names the players he expects to ruffle a few feathers at SW19.

With Murray in the top half of the draw and world No.1 Rafael Nadal in the bottom, it means the pair cannot meet until the final.

Nadal opens against Martin Klizan - but faces the prospect of a second-round showdown with Lukas Rosol, the man who famously knocked him out at the same stage in 2012.

In the same half of the draw as Murray is top seed Novak Djokovic, who pulled out of a warm-up event at Stoke Park as a precaution because of a wrist complaint. Djokovic faces Andrey Golubev, with a likely second-round match with Radek Stepanek - the man who knocked Murray out of Queen's last week.

Seven-time champion Roger Federer, in the bottom half of the draw with Nadal, starts against world No.81 Paolo Lorenzi.

British No.2 Dan Evans takes on Andrey Kuznetsov for a likely second-round match-up with David Ferrer, while No.3 James Ward has the tough task of getting past Mikhail Youzhny.

No.4 Dan Cox also faces a tricky opening-round tie with Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while No.5 Dan Smethurst will need to bring his A-game against world No.11 John Isner.

Another Brit, teenager Kyle Edmund, takes on Andreas Haider-Maurer.

Notable men's draw first round ties

Who is David Goffin?

Born in Liege, Belgium, David 'La Goff' Goffin broke onto the scene in 2012 when he finished inside the world's top 50 - mainly thanks to a run to the third round at Wimbledon in which the wildcard defeated No.28 Bernard Tomic and Jesse Levine before falling to 12th seed Mardy Fish in straight sets.
Goffin also featured at the Olympic Games in London, but his form has dipped dramatically and he now finds himself outside the top 100 and faced with the daunting task of taking on Wimbledon champion Andy Murray on Centre Court.
Dan Prescott, ESPN

Novak Djokovic (1) v Andrey Golubev
Rafael Nadal (2) v Martin Klizan
Andy Murray (3) v David Goffin
Roger Federer (4) v Paolo Lorenzi
Stan Wawrinka (5) v Joao Sousa
Tomas Berdych (6) v Victor Hanescu
David Ferrer (7) v Pablo Carreno Busta
Milos Raonic (8) v Matthew Ebden
John Isner (9) v Dan Smethurst
Kei Nishikori (10) v Kenny De Schepper
Grigor Dimitrov (11) v Ryan Harrison
Ernests Gulbis (12) v Jurgen Zopp
Lleyton Hewitt v Michal Przysiezny
Dan Evans v Andrey Kuznetsov
James Ward v Mikhail Youzhny (17)
Dan Cox v Jeremy Chardy
Kyle Edmund v Andreas Haider-Maurer