Two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray will be playing with new partner, countryman Neal Skupski, at Wimbledon for the first time this fortnight. But the pairing might play against someone more familiar to the left-handed Murray than anyone before the quarter-finals.

The Murray brothers – Jamie and Andy Murray – could face off in doubles in the third round at SW19. Murray/Skupski, the 10^th seeds, meet Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek in the opening round and then might face either Spaniards Pablo Andujar/Fernando Verdasco or Brits Evan Hoyt/Luke Johnson.

France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Murray, partnering for the first time, meet Marius Copil/Ugo Humbert and then could face the winner of Ricardas Berankis/Marton Fucsovics and sixth seeds Nikola Mektic/Franko Skugor.

Herbert won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2016 (with Mahut). Murray’s only previous doubles result at Wimbledon came in his 2005 debut with David Sherwood, a first-round exit.

The Murray brothers have never played each other in a tour-level matchup. In January, there was talk of them playing together at the All England Club as Andy Murray planned to possibly retire at the season’s third Grand Slam because of lingering hip injuries.

Jamie’s younger brother, however, is now feeling pain-free, a possibility he couldn’t imagine five months ago, and he’s winning. Murray underwent a second right hip surgery in January, and with Feliciano Lopez, Andy Murray won the Fever-Tree Championships doubles title last week.

“I expected something in my hip, I expected it to be sore, but I literally, like, have nothing there,” Murray said after winning the ATP 500 doubles title. “For me, anyway, it had been probably five or six years, after matches I would get some pain and aching and throbbing and things like that that you would just anticipate and are waiting for that to happen. And it doesn’t anymore, and it’s brilliant.”

The 32-year-old Scot has won three tour-level doubles titles – two with brother Jamie in 2010, 2011 – and two Wimbledon singles titles (2013, 2016).

Aussie Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 singles champion, is also playing doubles, with countryman Jordan Thompson. Hewitt is 9-8 in doubles at Wimbledon and made his debut, with Roger Federer, in 1999, reaching the third round.

It’s the first time since 1992 that two former Wimbledon singles champions are in the doubles draw. John McEnroe, a three-time singles winner (1981, ‘83-84), teamed with 1991 champion Michael Stich to capture the ‘92 doubles crown.

The stalwart doubles champions, however, will also be gracing the grass in London. Three-time Wimbledon champions Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan are making their 20th appearance together.

Mike Bryan, with Jack Sock, won the title last year. Bryan/Bryan, the seventh seeds, could meet 11^th seeds Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the third round.

Top seeds Marcelo Melo/Lukasz Kubot, the 2017 champions, open against Ben McLachlan/Jan-Lennard Struff, who have won two ATP Tour doubles titles together; and 2015 titlists Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau, the fifth seeds, could also have a tough third-round matchup in the form of Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta/Feliciano Lopez.

Doubt Rafael Nadal for the umpteenth time at your own peril. Before last year, the Spaniard had not made a Wimbledon quarter-final since 2011, when he reached his fifth consecutive final at SW19.

His critics said that Nadal’s time on grass had come and gone. Maybe he should skip Wimbledon and preserve his body? Nadal proceeded to make his first Wimbledon semi-final in seven years and pushed eventual champion Novak Djokovic better than anyone, falling 10-8 in the fifth set.

Earlier this year, on clay, there were similar rumblings when the World No. 2 failed to win a title before the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome for the first time in 15 years. Nadal then won 12 straight matches, including his record-setting 34^th ATP Masters 1000 title and record-extending 12^thRoland Garros title.

“Of course to have this trophy with me means a lot,” Nadal said after winning in Paris earlier this month. “But the personal satisfaction of changing the dynamic is the thing that I am more satisfied.”

More history beckons for the Spaniard at SW19. The two-time champion (2008, 2010) is trying to join Swede Bjorn Borg (1978-80) by completing the Roland Garros – Wimbledon double for the third time. Nadal was only four sets away from the feat last year.

He beat then-No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro to make the semi-finals in one of the matches of the season 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The two ended their contest near Del Potro’s baseline in a long embrace.

“I am very happy the way that I survived a lot of important points in that fifth set. I think I did a lot of things well, I went to the net,” Nadal said at the time. “It’s difficult to explain the feelings because, of course, you appreciate it. In some way you enjoy it… You enjoy because at the end of the day we are playing in one of the best courts in our sport, against a great opponent, with full crowd, fifth set, great level of tennis. Of course, you have to enjoy.”

The victory propelled him back to the last four at the All England Club, a place at the Grand Slam his critics doubted he’d ever see again. The Spaniard had been hampered with early-round losses in prior years.

Four of his past six losses at Wimbledon have come to opponents ranked No. 100 or lower: No. 100 Lukas Rosol (2R) in 2012, No. 135 Steve Darcis (1R) in 2013, No. 144 Nick Kyrgios (4R) in 2014 and No. 102 Dustin Brown (2R) in 2015. The Spaniard could have another crack at Kyrgios. The two could meet in the second round.

Who has the best first serve on grass? Goran Ivanisevic, that’s who…

The 6’4” Croatian won Wimbledon in 2001, defeating Patrick Rafter in the final, and lost the 1994 and 1998 finals to Pete Sampras, and the 1992 final to Andre Agassi. His lefty serve was feared just as much down the middle as out wide on both sides, with his lightning-quick motion pretty much impossible to read.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of career first-serve points won on grass sees Ivanisevic sitting at the top of the table, being the only player to win north of 85 per cent behind first serves.

Top 10 Career First-Serve Points Won On Grass

What’s fascinating is that Ivanisevic’s first-serve prowess did not spill over to his second serve. He is ranked way down the list with the 159th best second-serve win percentage on grass, at 50.47 per cent (1823/3612). His first serve was a hammer, but if he missed it, he barely won half of his second-serve points on grass.

It’s also interesting to note that Australia boasts three players in the Top 10 of the category, while Croatia has two. Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, USA ad Canada all have one Top 10 representative.

One player that is conspicuous by his absence from this Top 10 list is eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer. The Swiss star is ranked only 32^nd with first-serve points won on grass, at 79.54 per cent (9097/11437). Federer has performed much better behind his second serve, being ranked second with a win percentage of 59.05 per cent (3550/6012).

Wimbledon 2001
Ivanisevic steamrolled to the 2001 title, continually taking out big names and fellow big servers as the tournament progressed.

2001 Wimbledon: Ivanisevic Opponents & First-Serve Win Percentage

Ivanisevic’s first-serve performance taking the title in 2001 was slightly better than his career average, winning 87.15 per cent, compared to 86.98 per cent for his career on grass. He was in especially devastating first-serve form in the middle of the tournament against Greg Rusedski and Marat Safin, losing only 12 first-serve points against both of them combined in seven sets.

In the final against Rafter, Ivanisevic won a thrilling encounter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. His first-serve performance was at its very best in the thrilling fifth and deciding set.

2001 Wimbledon Final Per Set: Ivanisevic First-Serve Points Won Percentage & Aces

Ivanisevic won 22 titles from 1990 to 2001, with the Wimbledon title being his last. What a way to go out with a bang.

#NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic held his nerve to advance to his first ATP Tour final at the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya on Friday.

In a match featuring no breaks of serve, the 19-year-old edged past in-form third-seeded Australian Jordan Thompson 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(1) in two hours and 51 minutes. Currently in eighth position in the ATP Race To Milan for a spot at the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals in November, the Serbian awaits the winner of fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain or Italy’s Lorenzo Songeo.

Kecmanovic, whose previous-best tour-level finish had come with a quarter-final run at the BNP Paribas Open in March, lost just 10 of his first-service points in 18 service games, which included 14 aces. Thompson, who saved six break points, struck 22 aces.

Two weeks ago, 25-year-old Thompson, who has a 21-13 match record in 2019, reached his first ATP Tour final at the Libema Open (l. to Mannarino). With six wins from eight grass-court matches, he will now travel to London and prepare to face Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon first round.

Rafael Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 titlist, has been drawn in a loaded quarter at The Championships, and in the same half as eight-time former winner Roger Federer. Defending champion Novak Djokovic, a four-time winner at the All England Club, headlines the top half of the draw with last year’s finalist Kevin Anderson, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The draw ceremony, held at the All England Club on Friday morning, has pitted Nadal in the same section of the draw as No. 29 seed Denis Shapovalov, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Bernard Tomic. Early popcorn matches include fifth seed Dominic Thiem against Sam Querrey, No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini versus Frances Tiafoe, 2017 runner-up and No. 13 seed Marin Cilic versus Adrian Mannarino and No. 27 seed Lucas Pouille versus Richard Gasquet.

View Singles Draw

Popcorn First-Round Matches At A Glance
Anderson v Herbert
Thiem v Querrey
Tiafoe V Fognini
Cilic v Mannarino
Tomic v Tsonga
Kyrgios v Thompson
Fritz v Berdych
Pouille v Gasquet

If Nadal, who plays Yuichi Sugita in the first round, is to complete the Roland Garros-Wimbledon title double for the third time (2008, 2010), the Spanish icon may need to work his way past Kyrgios, Tsonga or Shapovalov in the third round, Cilic in the fourth round, Thiem in the quarter-finals, second seed Federer in the semi-finals and Djokovic in the championship match. Nadal, who has won 18 Grand Slam championship trophies and has a 40-18 match record at Wimbledon, lost to Djokovic 10-8 in the fifth set in last year’s fourth round.

Djokovic, who lifted the Wimbledon crown ranked No. 21 in the ATP Rankings last year, will open his campaign against Philipp Kohlschreiber and could meet No. 16 seed Gael Monfills, MercedesCup finalist and No. 19 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or 2014 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round. Should Djokovic reach the quarter-finals, the World No. 1 may potentially challenge seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, who advanced to the fourth round in 2018, or No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev.

Nadal and Djokovic, who are in the top two spots in the 2019 ATP Race To London, could both potentially qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November, as a result of deep runs at The Championships. Buy Your Tickets Today

Federer, the second seed, who will be looking to add to his 20 Grand Slam championship crowns, competes at the All England Club for the 21st year. With a 95-12 record at the grass-court major, the Swiss superstar will open his campaign for a ninth trophy against Lloyd Harris. The 37-year-old, who captured a 10th Noventi Open trophy last week, could face Pouille or Gasquet in the third round, No. 14 seed Borna Coric in the fourth round, and potentially eighth seed Nishikori or ninth seed Isner in the quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Anderson, who beat Federer in last year’s quarter-finals prior to a 26-24 fifth-set finish against Isner in the semi-finals, continues his comeback from an elbow injury and takes on Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round. He may face 2015 finalist and No. 15 seeds Milos Raonic or two-time former quarter-finalist Wawrinka, the No. 22 seed, in the fourth round. Sixth seed Zverev, a two-time quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, faces Jiri Vesely first up, while No. 10 seed Karen Khachanov, who also features in Anderson’s quarter of the draw, takes on Soon-woo Kwon in the first round.