Andy Murray says playing with Serena Williams in the Wimbledon mixed doubles is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which he could not miss.

Britain’s Murray, 32, will play with the American great as he continues his recovery from major hip surgery.

“The chance to play with her is brilliant and not something I expected to happen,” the Scot said.

The decorated pair will play Germany’s Andreas Mies and Chile’s Alexa Guarachi in the first round.

Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou contacted Murray’s Jamie Delgado to see if the Scot was available and the blockbuster partnership between two of the sport’s most high profile players, who have 26 Grand Slam titles between them, was confirmed on Tuesday.

“I was talking to my wife about it and, with everything that has gone on over the past couple of years, you don’t know what is coming around the corner,” Murray said.

“The opportunity to play with Serena, who is one of the best tennis players of all time and one of biggest female athletes ever, is something I might not get another chance to do again. Potentially I might not play mixed doubles again.

“If I am going to do it once, the chance to play with her is obviously great.”

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Partnership offers another chance for more Wimbledon glory?

For two-time Wimbledon singles champion Murray, the high-profile partnership with 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams represents another chance to win a Wimbledon title, this time less than six months after having hip surgery.

The 32-year-old Scot feared a hip resurfacing operation might signal the end of his career, yet he returned to competitive action in the doubles at Queen’s last month.

The former world number one, who decided playing doubles was the best option for the first stage of his comeback, went on to win the Queen’s title alongside Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.

At Wimbledon Murray will partner Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, a doubles expert who has won all four Grand Slam titles, in the men’s event.

Murray approached several players as he also looked to play in the mixed, including world number one Ashleigh Barty, before linking up with 37-year-old Williams, who has won seven doubles titles at Wimbledon.

The American’s playing time has been limited by a knee injury this year, but she beat Giulia Gatto-Monticone in the first round of the singles on Tuesday.

“We wanted to see how her match went before making a final call on it,” Murray said at the Wimbledon practice courts on Wednesday.

“She felt fine after her match yesterday, I saw her briefly today and she’s up for it.”

Murray played mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2006 where he teamed up with Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens and reached the second round.

He was also a silver medallist with Laura Robson at the London 2012 Olympics which were played at the All England Club.

Williams has won two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, having partnered Max Mirnyi to win Wimbledon and the US Open in 1998.

Andy and Serena can be ‘perfect match’ – Judy Murray

Murray’s partnership with Williams, where the Briton’s returning game complemented by the American’s strong service game, has got his mum Judy’s approval.

“It’s fantastic,” she told BBC Sport. “What an opportunity, it will be great fun.

“It looks like a really strong partnership – obviously! They’ve both got good form in singles and doubles so hopefully they can be the perfect match.”

While his mum is excited by Andy’s mixed doubles partner, she is far from thrilled at the prospect of her sons potentially facing each other in the third round of the men’s doubles.

Asked if she would be watching courtside, she laughed: “No chance! That would be torture.

“If it happens I will go to the pub and wait for a text.

“They played each other quite a lot when they were young – in those situations I always wanted Jamie to win because he’s the older one and it was because it was the natural order of things and it was easier to handle.”

Clarke to partner Gauff – after ditching Dart

Briton Jay Clarke will partner 15-year-old American Cori Gauff, who beat Venus Williams in the singles, with the pair facing Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko.

Clarke reached the semi-finals with fellow Briton Harriet Dart last year, where they lost to eventual runners-up Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka.

Clarke and Dart agreed to play together again in February, but BBC Sport understands Clarke messaged Dart on Monday to say that he had decided to play with Gauff instead.

Jamie Murray and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who face GB’s Joe Salisbury and Katy Dunne, start on the opposite side of the draw to Andy Murray and Serena Williams, meaning the brothers could only meet in this competition in the final.

Welshman Evan Hoyt will also play with fellow Briton Eden Silva against India’s Leander Paes and Australian Samantha Stosur.

Another eye-catching partnership sees Venus Williams, a six-time doubles winner at Wimbledon, link up with Frances Tiafoe.

The American pair, in the same half as Andy Murray and Serena Williams, open against British wildcards Scott Clayton and Sarah Beth Grey.

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Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who has won 27 singles titles on the WTA Tour, is writing a column for the BBC Sport website during the championships at the All England Club.

The 29-year-old Czech, who had not played since pulling out of the French Open in May with an arm injury, beat Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-2 in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

I’m taking away a lot of positive things from my win over Ons Jabeur – I’m pleased with how I played and I surprised myself as well.

I had only hit for three hours in the past five weeks since I had to pull out of the French Open because of the tear in my left forearm.

During my warm-up I thought ‘OK, it’s fine’ but you never know what will happen in the match. The body gets more tired and you’re just going full power and the adrenalin is in there. So I was a bit worried before my match, definitely.

During the match I sometimes thought about my arm, like ‘it’s fine’ or ‘what’s going on there?’ but most of the time when you are seeing the ball coming pretty fast, you don’t really have time to think about it.

My serve also surprised me, it helped me a lot and it hadn’t been great in practice. It’s also good that I only had to play two sets.

But now my arm is going to be sore tomorrow so I’m going to have a day off.

‘No shopping for me tomorrow – well, ok, maybe online!’

I’m definitely not doing any hitting on Wednesday but I will do some fitness work.

I will do some exercises and have some treatment on my body, especially on the arm. So the work is still there but just not with the racquet or the ball.

I have hit three days in a row so my arm is just a bit tired – I just need a day off to get back to work. I will get a massage tonight. Maybe some mobilisation on my back, release everything so my arm doesn’t have to do anything.

I will put ice on it, some cream on it during the night, I will do everything on it!

I’m also going to sleep a lot probably – well, try at least! We’ll go for some dinner, maybe I’ll watch a movie or read a book. I don’t think I’ll go shopping – maybe just online shopping!

Maybe I’ll just go for a walk in Wimbledon village. Sometimes I get recognised but people are very polite so it’s nice.

‘Grass is playing slower here this year’

Like some other players, I have noticed that the grass is playing slower here than in previous years, especially on the match courts.

The Aorangi practice courts are a little bit faster than the match courts.

For me, it’s not great – I like it faster with the type of game plan I have.

The slower grass means the rallies are a little bit longer, it’s not really serve and volley anymore. We’re not seeing it, not even on the men’s side. Maybe Roger Federer is still playing like that, which is nice to see.

The players who are not really playing that fast can still do well in the tournament.

‘Win has not changed my expectations’

My expectations for the tournament have not changed at all despite the win.

Every match the pain could come back and that will mean ‘stop’ for me.

It’s really tough to think like that – maybe you’re going to play well and then suddenly you feel the pain. So hopefully that will not happen to me, I need to stay positive.

I can’t really have high expectations even though I played a good match today. We’ll see how it goes in the next match when I play against Kristina Mladenovic in the second round on Thursday.

I’m not sure how well she is playing on grass but the main thing is that I know I’m playing well on grass.

Petra Kvitova was speaking to BBC Sport’s Sonia Oxley at Wimbledon

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Cori Gauff says her motto is to “just wing it” as the 15-year-old American aims to continue her Wimbledon fairytale on Wednesday.

Gauff, who beat Venus Williams in the first round, plays Magdalena Rybarikova on court two about 19:00 BST.

Britain’s Kyle Edmund plays Spain’s Fernando Verdasco about 15:00 on Centre Court, followed by Novak Djokovic’s meeting with American Denis Kudla.

Heather Watson starts on Court One at 13:00 against Anett Kontaveit.

Canadian 19th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who became the first man born in the 2000s to win a Grand Slam match on Monday, faces French 20-year-old Corentin Moutet on court three.

• Murray to partner Serena Williams in mixed doubles

‘We’re all going to die one day – I just want to make the most of it’

Gauff announced her arrival to the world with a stunning victory over seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, who is 24 years older and had won two of her five Wimbledon titles before Gauff was born in 2004.

The teenage sensation, who idolises the Williams sisters and had a poster of Serena on her wall, showed remarkable composure and belief to become the youngest player to win a main-draw match at SW19 since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.

Now Gauff is aiming to follow Capriati, who went on to reach the last four that year, by moving into the third round when she plays Slovakia’s 2017 semi-finalist Rybarikova, who is also unseeded.

“I just literally don’t play with any pressure. I just tell myself whatever happens happens. I mean, my motto is just, like, wing it,” Gauff, ranked 313th in the world, said.

“This is kind of a sad thing, we’re all going to die one day, I just want to make the most of it.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the little moments because those are the moments that kind of turn out big when you look back in life.”

Edmund glad to be back on Centre

Edmund, 24, returns to Centre Court after beating Verdasco’s compatriot Jaume Munar on Monday, with the Yorkshireman hoping to continue building his rapport with the 15,000 home crowd.

“The more you play on there, you feel more comfortable with your surroundings and the court,” said the 30th seed, who lost to Serbia’s eventual champion Djokovic on Centre in the third round last year.

“The crowd obviously reacts to how the match is going, different matches, the time of day.

“I remember the Djokovic match, it was really loud. Sometimes it can be less loud. Just depends on the occasion.

“Regardless of that, any time you play on Centre Court, it’s just an amazing honour and feeling.”

Watson, 27, is aiming to reach the third round for a fourth time when she faces Estonian 20th seed Kontaveit, who is coached by Andy Murray’s father-in-law Nigel Sears.

After first-round exits in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne, Watson earned a morale-boosting win against American teenager Caty McNally on Monday.

“I’m a confidence player, so not having those wins in the last few weeks, I was maybe overthinking a bit,” said the world number 122.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself naturally because of the person I am. I feel the same every year. I put the same amount of pressure on myself.

“I just really always want to do well.”