Fresh injury fears for Emma Raducanu as she fails to show up for Wimbledon practice

There are fresh concerns Emma Raducanu could be a doubt for Wimbledon, after she pulled out of her practice session on No 1 Court at the 11th hour on Friday.

US Open champion Raducanu has been training at the All England Club all week – albeit without full range of motion on her serve due to an abdominal injury.

She practised for an hour at Aorangi Park earlier on Friday and was then scheduled for a 2.15pm hit with former champion Garbine Muguruza at Wimbledon's second-largest show court. But she failed to show up and Muguruza's team had to scramble to get a new player to hit with her at the last minute.

It showed Raducanu is taking a cautious approach to her Wimbledon preparations, after finding out she will be playing her first-round match against Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck on Monday, along with the rest of the bottom half of the women's draw.

Though she remained onsite after pulling out of the practice session with Muguruza, the late change of plan did breed concern over whether she is unsure of her ability to play at all.

The 19-year-old suffered her side strain on June 7, in her first and only match on grass this season at Nottingham. She has been racing to recover ever since, in the hope of being back to full fitness in time for the start of the Championships.

This caps off an unlucky pattern of injury woes, as Raducanu has struggled to get to grips with the physical toll of the WTA Tour. Her retirement at the Nottingham Open earlier this month was her third in four months, and her Australian Open campaign in January was also blighted by blisters on her hand. Her ailments have included a tight back, hip issue and now the abdominal problem which in particular affects her ability to serve.

If she does compete, world No 46 Van Uytvanck will be a tough challenge. She is one of the more difficult first-round opponents imaginable for 10th seed Raducanu. The Belgian is a strong grass player and no stranger to high-profile matches at the All England Club: she famously beat defending champion Muguruza in 2018. Raducanu has only beaten six players who have been ranked higher than Van Uytvanck since her rise to stardom at Wimbledon last year.

She was still lucky to avoid the seemingly unstoppable Iga Swiatek in the top half of the draw though. Instead, her earliest possible seeded opponent will be American Madison Keys, and she could face Alison Riske or this year's Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins in the fourth round. Meanwhile Swiatek faces Jana Fett of Croatia in the first round, and has been granted the honour of opening Centre Court proceedings on Tuesday in the absence of retired reigning champion Ashleigh Barty.

Unseeded 23-time major champion Serena Williams will play debutant Harmony Tan of France. Williams avoided Swiatek's quarter, but found herself in a loaded section of the draw. She could face last year's finalist Karolina Pliskova in the third round, before Coco Gauff and former champion Simona Halep.

On the men's side, the draw was relatively kind to two-time champion Andy Murray who will play Australia's James Duckworth - a player he has beaten twice before. He could face American serve machine John Isner in the second round, and if he reaches the quarterfinal, could bump into top seed Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic will begin his defence of the Wimbledon title against 75th-ranked South Korean Kwon Soon-woo, while in the opposite side of the draw Rafael Nadal – who is still on track for a calendar grand slam – will play world No 42 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.

All 17 British players across the two singles' draws managed to avoid being paired against a seeded opponent. Though Paul Jubb was unlucky to be paired against Australia's Nick Kyrgios – one of the most dangerous unseeded players floating around the draw – it remained a generous outcome for home interests.

11:06 AM

It gets under way on Monday

Just three days to go till Wimbledon now. Will Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray be fit in time? Let's hope so.

Stay with Telegraph Sport for the latest news, analysis, comment and features throughout the two weeks here.

10:58 AM

Will the top seeds reach the final?

10:44 AM

And that concludes the draw!

Some great matches to begin Wimbledon.

• Sinner vs Wawrinka

• Murray vs Duckworth

• Struff vs Alcaraz

• Norrie vs Andujar

• Raducanu vs Van Uytvanck

• Zheng vs Stephens

• Williams vs Tan

10:40 AM

Men's draw

Rafael Nadal vs Francisco Cerundolo

10:39 AM

Men's draw

Maxime Cressy vs Felix Auger-Aliassime

Dan Evans vs Jason Kubler

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Alexander Ritschard

10:37 AM

Men's draw

Paul Jubb vs Nick Kyrgios - tough one for the Brit

10:36 AM

Men's draw

Zizou Bergs vs Jack Draper

Liam Broady vs Lukas Klein

Hubert Hurkacz vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

Matteo Berrettini vs Cristian Garin

10:34 AM

Men's draw

Carlos Alcaraz vs Jan-Lennard Struff

Ryan Peniston vs Henri Laaksonen

Cam Norrie vs Pablo Andujar

Andrea Vavassori vs Frances Tiafoe

Fabio Fognini vs Tallon Griekspoor

10:31 AM

Men's draw

Andy Murray vs James Duckworth

10:29 AM

Men's draw

Jannik Sinner vs Stan Wawrinka - that should be a cracking match!

10:28 AM

Men's draw

Novak Djokovic vs Soonwoo Kwon on Centre Court on Monday at 1:30pm

10:23 AM

Men's draw

Projected Quarter-finals

• Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz

• Casper Ruud vs Hubert Hurkacz

• Matteo Berrettini vs Stefanos Tsitsipas

• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Rafael Nadal

10:23 AM

Onto the men's draw

Djokovic is the No 1 seed...

10:22 AM

Serena's path to the final

10:21 AM

The British women

• Sonay Kartal vs Danka Kovinic

• Katie Boulter vs Clara Burel

• Katie Swan vs Marta Kostuyk

• Lily Miyazaki vs Caroline Garcia

• Emma Raducanu vs Alison Van Uytvanck

• Heather Watson vs Tamara Korpatsch

• Jodie Burrage vs Lesia Tsurenko

• Rebeka Masarova v Harriet Dart

10:20 AM

Women's draw

Ons Jabeur vs Mirjam Bjorklund

Heather Watson vs Tamara Korpatsch

Jodie Burrage vs Lesia Tsurenko

10:15 AM

BREAKING: Emma Raducanu to play Alison van Uytvanck

Katie Boulter vs Clara Burel

Katie Swan vs. Marta Kostyuk

10:13 AM

Women's draw

Karolína Muchová vs Simona Halep

Serena Williams vs Harmony Tan

Bianca Andreescu vs Emina Bektas

10:10 AM

Women's draw

Harriet Dart vs Rebeka Masarova

Qinwen Zheng vs Sloane Stephens

Sonay Kartal vs Danka Kovinic

10:06 AM

Women's draw

Emma Raducanu is drawn in the bottom half.

Iga Swiatek will play qualifier Jana Fett in the first round.

10:02 AM

Women's draw first

Projected Quarter-finals

• Swiatek vs Pegula

• Badosa vs Pliskova

• Collins vs Jabeur

• Sakkari vs Kontaveit

10:00 AM

Here we go...

... the draw is about to get underway!

09:59 AM

A break from tradition...

09:51 AM

'A couple of weeks ago I had the problems'

One of the star attractions at Wimbledon will be rising star, Carlos Alcaraz.

But the 19-year-old, who has won in Miami and Madrid this year, has been dealing with a right elbow injury.

Alcaraz was beaten 6-4 6-2 by Frances Tiafoe in an exhibition match on Thursday and said afterwards:

09:46 AM

Ones to watch

• Andy Murray

• Serena Williams

• Nick Kyrgios

• Beatriz Haddad Maia

• Ryan Peniston

• Katie Boulter

• Jack Draper

09:37 AM

Top 10 women's seeds

• 1 SWIATEK, Iga (POL)

• 2 KONTAVEIT, Anett (EST)

• 3 JABEUR, Ons (TUN)

• 4 BADOSA, Paula (ESP)

• 5 SAKKARI, Maria (GRE)

• 6 PLISKOVA, Karolina (CZE)

• 7 COLLINS, Danielle (USA)

• 8 PEGULA, Jessica (USA)

• 9 MUGURUZA, Garbine (ESP)

• 10 RADUCANU, Emma (GBR)

09:29 AM

Top 10 men's seeds

• 1 DJOKOVIC, Novak (SRB)

• 2 NADAL, Rafael (ESP)

• 3 RUUD, Casper (NOR)

• 4 TSITSIPAS, Stefanos (GRE)

• 5 ALCARAZ, Carlos (ESP)

• 6 AUGER-ALIASSIME, Felix (CAN)

• 7 HURKACZ, Hubert (POL)

• 8 BERRETTINI, Matteo (ITA)

• 9 NORRIE, Cameron (GBR)

• 10 SINNER, Jannik (ITA)

09:23 AM

Is there a better sight in sport?

09:04 AM

Good morning

Hello and welcome to coverage of the eagerly anticipated draw for the Wimbledon Championships.

All eyes will be on who Emma Raducanu faces amid doubts about her fitness as she recovers from an abdominal injury.

Among the potential opponents for the US Open champion is Serena Williams, who has a wildcard into the event and remains a threat despite being on the sidelines for a year.

But Iga Swiatek is the No 1 seed and woman to beat in the ladies draw after winning her last 35 matches in a row.

She was simply unstoppable on the Roland Garros clay, dropping one set as she claimed a second French Open title in three years, having free-wheeled her way to the 2020 title when she became the youngest French Open champion for 28 years.

But Wimbledon presents an entirely different challenge for a player whose nine career WTA titles have been won on clay and hard courts and who admits grass is tricky.

Elsewhere, former champions Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza are also capable of deep runs and players to avoid in the early stages.

In the men's draw, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are the top two seeds and favourites to meet in the final.

Djokovic will be hoping to find redemption at Wimbledon as he looks to defend his title and close in on Nadal's 22 Grand Slam titles.

The Serbian has won the last three editions of Wimbledon in 2018, 2019 and last year, with the 2020 tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Nadal has won the Australian and French Opens to extend his overall slam haul and after treatment on his troublesome foot, he looks poised to challenge at SW19.

Stay with us for all the build-up, updates and news from the draw.