Serena Williams of the United States celebrates a point during the women’s singles first round match against Margarita Gasparyan of Russia at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday June 29, 2015. AP PHOTO/PAVEL GOLOVKIN
LONDON — Serena Williams and Andy Murray both face potentially easy opening matches against lowly ranked opponents on Day 2 at Wimbledon.
Defending women’s champion and six-time winner Williams opens play on Centre Court against 148th-ranked Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic, making her first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.
Since winning last year’s title, Williams has come up short in the majors, losing in the semifinals at the U.S. Open and finals of the Australian and French Opens. She needs one more Grand Slam championship to equal Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 titles.
Murray, the 2013 Wimbledon champion, will be up second on Centre Court on Tuesday against Liam Broady, a British wild-card entry ranked No. 235. It’s the first all-British men’s meeting at Wimbledon since 2001 and first at a Grand Slam since 2006.