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Andy Murray and Venus Williams handed Wimbledon wildcards

All England Club expects Osaka to compete in tournament later this month

Andy Murray won Wimbledon titles in 2013 and 2016 but is currently ranked 124th having endured a spate of injuries in the past few years. Photograph: John Walton/PA

Wed Jun 16 2021 - 13:06

Andy Murray has been announced as one of the initial recipients of a Wimbledon wild card.

The two-time champion, who played just his third ATP singles match of the year at Queen’s Club on Tuesday, is ranked down at 124th, which is outside the cut-off for direct qualification.

Five-time champion Venus Williams and Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz have also been given main draw wild cards.

Chief executive Sally Bolton revealed that, as things stand, the All England Club is expecting Naomi Osaka to compete in the tournament, which begins on June 28th.

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Bolton said: “We’ve reached out to her team, we haven’t spoken to Naomi herself. At this point in time she’s entered into the Championships and we haven’t received confirmation that she won’t compete.”

Tournament director Jamie Baker added: "I had the conversation with her team. It's absolutely clear that we're here, we're completely open for any discussions when they want to have that. Hopefully it goes without saying that we want the best players competing here no matter what.

“We treat every single player with a tremendous amount of care. That’s one of the main reasons for me and my role. We’ve been building those relationships so there’s a constant, ongoing dialogue and we will just continue to behave in this way.”

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