Andy Murray faces world No 49 Benoit Paire in first round of Wimbledon as unseeded Brit avoids the big guns

  • Unseeded Andy Murray faces Frenchman Benoit Paire in Wimbledon first round
  • The former world No 1 is in Rafa Nadal’s and Novak Djokovic’s side of the draw
  • British No 1 Kyle Edmund will play the Australian and world No 164 Alex Bolt
  • Wimbledon begins at the All England Club on Monday and ends Sunday, July 15 

By Alex Martin For Mailonline

Published: 10:23 BST, 29 June 2018 | Updated: 10:24 BST, 29 June 2018

Andy Murray faces world No 49 Benoit Paire in the first round of Wimbledon as the two-time winner avoided the big guns despite being unseeded.

Kyle Edmund should find an easy passage to the second round after being drawn against world No 164 Alex Bolt, but is set to come up against Novak Djokovic in the third round. 

In other British interest, Liam Broady faces a formidable foe in the form of 2016 finalist Milos Raonic while Cameron Norrie plays former British tennis star Aljaz Bedene and Jay Clarke comes up against Ernests Gulbis.

Andy Murray plays a backhand during his match against Stan Wawrinka in Eastbourne

Murray made his competitive return from hip surgery at Queen’s earlier this month and also played in the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne. He failed to make it to the latter stages in either of them, but emerged with added confidence.

The Scot has stayed equivocal on whether he would attempt to win his third title in SW19 and there is an understanding that he made his decision to play on the morning before the draw.

Defending champion Roger Federer will begin his title defence with a match against world No 57 Dusan Lajovic.

Federer will be aiming to add a ninth Wimbledon title to his vast array of honours after beating Marin Cilic in three sets last year. The Swiss beat Cilic at the Australian Open in January, becoming the first man to win 20 grand slam titles as a result.

More to follow… 

British No 1 Kyle Edmund starts his Wimbledon challenge against world No 164 Alex Bolt

British No 1 Kyle Edmund starts his Wimbledon challenge against world No 164 Alex Bolt

British No 1 Kyle Edmund starts his Wimbledon challenge against world No 164 Alex Bolt

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