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Olympics 2020 tennis draw: Andy Murray and Naomi Osaka opponents confirmed

Andy Murray of Team Great Britain practices ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Tennis Park on July 20, 2021 in Tokyo, Japa - Getty Images AsiaPac
Andy Murray of Team Great Britain practices ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Tennis Park on July 20, 2021 in Tokyo, Japa - Getty Images AsiaPac

Andy Murray faces a tough start to the defence of his Olympic tennis title after being drawn against ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Murray is the only tennis player to win back-to-back singles gold medals having triumphed in London and Rio but his hopes of making it three in a row have been severely hampered by physical struggles.

He won consecutive matches at a grand slam for the first time in four years at Wimbledon before being comprehensively beaten by Auger-Aliassime's Canadian counterpart Denis Shapovalov and then giving a downbeat assessment of his career prospects.

Twenty-year-old Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, headed to Tokyo on a high after a strong grass court season that culminated in a first grand slam quarter-final appearance at SW19, while he easily defeated Murray at the US Open last year.

Debutant Liam Broady, a very late entrant to the field after numerous withdrawals, will take on Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo while Heather Watson opens against Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany.

Dan Evans and Johanna Konta, who would have represented Britain's best hopes of singles medals, were both forced to withdraw ahead of travelling after testing positive for coronavirus.

Plenty of star names have remained at home, including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, but Wimbledon champions Novak Djokovic and Ashleigh Barty are both in Japan along with Naomi Osaka, who will play her first match since withdrawing from the French Open.

Djokovic, who is bidding to become the first man in history to win a Golden Slam of all four grand slam titles and Olympic singles gold in the same year, will take on Bolivia's Hugo Dellien first up, with Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev the other top-four seeds.

Barty faces a tricky opener against Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo while Osaka, who would have been the subject of intense attention as one of the faces of the Games even before the furore that blew up over her decision not to fulfil her media duties in Paris, takes on Zheng Saisai of China.

Osaka has not played a match since opening up about her mental health struggles and pulling out after one round in Roland Garros, with the 23-year-old deciding not to play at Wimbledon.

Britain's best hope of a medal may come in doubles, although Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury were given a tough draw against French second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski will take on Argentinian duo Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos.

Entries for the mixed doubles will be announced on Tuesday.

Press Association

When does the Olympic tennis begin?

The Tokyo 2020 tennis begins on Saturday July 24 and runs until Sunday August 1 at the Ariake Tennis Park. Play will begin at 3am BST from July 24 until July 30 and then for the final three days at 4am BST.

How many Olympic tennis events are there?

Five: the women's singles, men's singles, women's doubles, men's doubles and mixed doubles.

What is the format?

It is a straight knockout format with both singles draws consisting of 64 players. The men's and women's doubles competitions are five rounds, from a total of 32 entrants. The mixed doubles have a total of 16 entrants.

All singles matches are the best of three sets with a traditional first to seven tie-break in every set, including a deciding third set. In doubles, instead of a third set it will be a match tiebreak (the first to 10).

What is the order of play?

The exact order of play for each day will be decided the evening before the following day's play.

What is the full men's singles draw?

Novak Djokovic (SRB) (1) vs Hugo Dellien (BOL)
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) vs Thiago Monteiro (BRA)
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) vs John Millman (AUS)
Pedro Sousa (POR) vs Alejandro Fokina Davidovich (ESP) (16)
Gael Monfils (FRA) (10) vs Ilya Ivashka (BLR)
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Federico Coria (ARG)
Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Andrey Rublev (ROC) (5)
Alexander Zverev (GER) (4) vs Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE)
Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) vs Mohamed Safwat (EGY)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) vs Roberto Baena Carballes (ESP)
Daniel Taro (JPN) vs Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) (13)
Aslan Karatsev (ROC) (11) vs Tommy Paul (USA)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs Tomas Barrios (CHI)
Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) vs Liam Broady (GBR)
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) vs Hubert Hurkacz (HUN) (7)
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) (8) vs Juan Pablo Varillas (PER)
Tomas Machac (CZE) vs Joao Sousa (POR)
Lukas Klein (SVK) vs James Duckworth (AUS)
Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) vs Karen Khachanov (ROC) (12)
Ugo Humbert (FRA) (14) vs Pablo Andujar (ESP)
Kamil Majchrzak (POL) vs Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) vs Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) (3)
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) (6) vs Tennys Sandgren (USA)
Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Joao Menezes (BRA)
Dominik Koepfer (GER) vs Facundo Bagnis (ARG)
Andy Murray (GBR) vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) (9)
Fabio Fognini (ITA) (15) vs Yuichi Sugita (JPN)
Egor Gerasimov (BLR) vs Gilles Simon (FRA)
Sumit Nagal (IND) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) vs Daniil Medvedev (ROC) (2)

What is the women's singles draw?

Ashleigh Barty (AUS) (1) vs Sara Tormo Sorribes (ESP)
Fiona Ferro (FRA) vs Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) vs Heather Watson (GBR)
Sara Errani (ITA) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (ROC) (13)
Belinda Bencic (SUI) (9) vs Jessica Pegula (USA)
Misaki Doi (JPN) vs Renata Zarazua (MEX)
Leylah Annie Fernandez (CAN) vs Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) Barbora Krejcikova (8)
Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) (3) vs Magda Linette (POL)
Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs Donna Vekic (CRO)
Maiar Sherif (EGY) vs Rebecca Peterson (SWE)
Samantha Stosur (AUS) vs Elena Rybakina (KAZ) (15)
Petra Kvitova (CZE) (10) vs Jasmine Paolini (ITA)
Ivana Jorovic (SRB) vs Alison van Uytvanck (BEL)
Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) vs Qiang Wang (CHN)
Veronika Kudermetova (ROC) vs Garbine Muguruza (ESP) (7)
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) (5) vs Alize Cornet (FRA)
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) vs Ons Jabeur (TUN)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs Elena Vesnina (ROC)
Camila Giorgi (ITA) vs Jennifer Brady (USA) (11)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) (14) vs Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Nina Stojanovic (SRB) vs Nao Hibino (JPN)
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)
Laura Siegemund (GER) vs Elina Svitolina (UKR) (4)
Iga Swiatek (POL) (6) vs Mona Barthel (GER)
Paula Badosa (ESP) vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) vs Nadia Podoroska (ARG)
Ekaterina Aleksandrova (ROC) vs Elise Mertens (BEL) (12)
Kiki Bertens (NED) (16) vs Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)
Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROM) vs Alison Riske (USA)
Maria Camila Osorio Serrano (COL) vs Viktorija Golubic (SUI)
Saisai Zheng (CHN) vs Naomi Osaka (JPN) (2)