WIMBLEDON MAKE LAST-MINUTE SCHEDULE CHANGE AS MATCH REMOVED FROM CENTRE COURT

Wimbledon organisers have made a late-minute change to the schedule after Andy Murray withdrew from his first-round singles match. The two-time champion was set to face Tomas Machac last on Centre Court.

Murray was replaced by lucky loser and former world No. 7 David Goffin. But Wimbledon removed Machac vs Goffin from the main showcourt.

They will now play last on Court 17. New British No. 1 Jack Draper will now face Elias Ymer on Centre Court, being bumped up from Court 2.

Murray's withdrawal threw the schedule into chaos, with Wimbledon bosses forced to make a quick decision to move matches around once the former world No. 1 confirmed that he wasn't ready to compete in the singles draw.

The 37-year-old was set to play the last match on Centre, likely to give him as much time as possible to recover after undergoing spinal cyst surgery less than two weeks ago. He had one final practice on Monday and was expected to make a decision on his participation on Monday night.

In that time, the order of play was published and Murray eventually delayed his decision until Tuesday morning. His team said: "Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year."

Tournament organisers quickly updated the order of play, moving Draper vs Ymer to Centre. Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Thanasi Kokkinakis then took their slot on Court 2.

Despite being a two-time quarter-finalist at SW19, lucky loser Goffin was brutally shunted to Court 17 when he was subbed into the draw to take on Machac. 12 months ago, Wimbledon awarded Goffin a wildcard after an injury layoff caused his ranking to drop off and meant that he didn't have a chance to defend his quarter-final points from the previous year.

But this time around he was forced to go through qualifying to enter the main draw. He lost to Mattia Bellucci in the final round of qualies but Murray's withdrawal let him in as a lucky loser. His status as a former top 10 player, coupled with Machac's world No. 39 ranking, wasn't enough to keep their match on Centre Court.

Instead, Draper will get his second outing on Centre Court. Back in 2021, a 19-year-old Draper received a wildcard and found himself drawn to face Novak Djokovic in the first round. He stole the first set but lost in four.

This time he will return as the top-ranked Brit ranked at a career-high of No. 28 in the world. The 22-year-old has already lifted his first title in Stuttgart during this grass swing and followed it up by upsetting Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's.

It will be a true changing of the guard as Murray, who has confirmed that he will say farewell to Wimbledon in the doubles with brother Jamie, and his withdrawal gives Draper the opportunity to take centre stage.

2024-07-02T10:17:04Z dg43tfdfdgfd