Young guns lead Aussie Wimbledon tilt
Aussie young guns Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic headline a banner Day 1 at Wimbledon in which 11 Aussies feature in singles action.
London, UK, 29 June 2015 | AAP
Young bucks Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis will show the way against Argentine claycourters on a bumper opening day for Australians at Wimbledon.
Kyrgios will open proceedings against Diego Schwartzman on Court Two, where he last year saved a grand-slam record nine match points in a stunning five-set second-round triumph over 13th seed Richard Gasquet
Kokkinakis hits Court 16 the same time as 26th-seeded Kyrgios as 11 Australians launch their campaigns on Monday.
On debut, 19-year-old Kokkinakis faces 24th seed Leonardo Mayer before 27th-seeded countryman Bernard Tomic follows on the same court against German Jan-Lennard Struff.
In his Wimbledon swansong, former champion Lleyton Hewitt follows Kyrgios on Court No.2 against Finn Jarkko Nieminen.
Hewitt and Nieminen, also making his All England Club farewell in 2015, will be playing for a likely second-round tilt at top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Marinko Matosevic features in the first match on Court 18 against British wildcard Liam Broady.
Sam Stosur, the women’s 22nd seed, along with qualifiers Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith and wildcard Matt Ebden are all scheduled for the third matches around the grounds.
Stosur plays Montenegro’s world No.92 Danka Kovinic, Saville has a tough assignment against 21st seed Gasquet, Smith meets French qualifier Kenny de Schepper and Ebden takes on Slovenian Blaz Rola.
Daria Gavrilova, up against Romanian 29th seed Irina-Camelia Begu, and qualifier John Millman, who faces veteran Spaniard Tommy Robredo, seeded 19th, are both playing among the last matches of the day, fourth on court.
Jarmila Gajdosova, Casey Dellacqua, Ajla Tomljanovic, Sam Groth and James Duckworth play on Tuesday.
Men’s singles – first round
[26] Nick Kyrgios v Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
[27] Bernard Tomic v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Thanasi Kokkinakis v [24] Leonardo Mayer (ARG)
Lleyton Hewitt v Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
John Millman v [19] Tommy Robredo (ESP)
Marinko Matosevic v Liam Broady (GBR)
Matt Ebden v Blaz Rola (SLO)
John-Patrick Smith v Kenny de Schepper (FRA)
Luke Saville v [21] Richard Gasquet (FRA)
Women’s singles – first round
[22] Sam Stosur v Danka Kovinik (MNE)
Daria Gavrilova v [29] Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM)