Andy Murray faces Aljaz Bedene in Queen's Club first round

British world number one Andy Murray will face compatriot Aljaz Bedene in the Aegon Championships first round at Queen’s Club on Tuesday.

Top seed and defending champion Murray beat Bedene, the British number four, in straight sets at last year’s event.

British number two Kyle Edmund will face a qualifier on Monday.

Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka has drawn Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, while Australian Nick Kyrgios will face Steve Johnson of the United States.

Sam Querrey, who won the event in 2010, will play British wildcard Cameron Norrie, while last year’s finalist Milos Raonic of Canada faces Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The tournament is seen as an important stepping stone for the leading male players in their build-up to Wimbledon – and this year’s event contains 10 of the world’s top 20.

Murray, 30, has won at Queen’s in both of the years he has gone on to claim the Wimbledon title, while the likes of John McEnroe and Rafael Nadal have also claimed the grass-court double in London.

“There’s a lot of tough players in the draw and it’s going to be a tough game, but there’s a lot of exciting first rounds there,” said Kyrgios.

“It’s perfect preparation for Wimbledon. This is always a tournament I look forward to playing and the grass court is in really good nick.”

The tournament gets under way on Monday with the final on Sunday, 25 June.

Queen’s without ‘King of Clay’

Six of the world’s top 10 players were supposed to be appearing at Queen’s, but that number has been reduced after Nadal and David Goffin pulled out.

French Open champion Nadal, 31, said he has been advised to rest by his doctor after a “long clay-court season”, while Belgian Goffin will miss the grass-court season with an ankle injury suffered at Roland Garros.

“My body needs to rest if I am going to be ready to play Wimbledon,” said world number two Nadal.

BBC coverage

BBC Sport will provide the usual comprehensive live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two, Red Button, Connected TV and online daily throughout the competition.

A title winner at Queen’s a record five times, Murray’s victory over Raonic in the 2016 final was watched by 3.7 million people on TV, with many more listening on BBC Radio 5 live and following online.

Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, described the tournament as “one of the most cherished events in the tennis calendar”.

Full details of BBC Sport’s coverage

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