Cameron Norrie is ready to push further into the world's top 100 at Wimbledon - even if grass is not his favourite surface.
The British men’s number two reached the quarter-finals in Eastbourne last week and takes on Aljaz Bedene in an intriguing first round clash on Monday.
Bedene spent three and a half years playing under the British flag but returned to representing Slovenia, the country of his birth, at the start of this year.
He reached the third round at the All England Club last year, his career best performance, while Norrie lost his first-ever match at SW19 to former semi-finalist Jo Wilfried Tsonga.
“I think I can play well and I think I have a good chance over five sets in Wimbledon,” said Norrie.
“I have a good attitude and play every point and compete as hard as I can – I feel ready.”
Norrie needed a wildcard to make his Wimbledon debut last year but has since fired himself up the rankings from outside the world’s top 250 to his current position of 79.
He narrowly lost to France’s Lucas Pouille in the second round at Roland Garros and claimed his first top ten scalp when he beat American John Isner in Lyon in May.
With the weather turned up to hot, Norris and Bedene will play at some point on Monday, though their game is not scheduled on court before 5pm.
Three other home nation players are in action, with British men’s number four Liam Broady taking on former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in the second match on Number One court.
Canadian Raonic, seeded 13, lost to Andy Murray in the 2016 final and reached the last eight 12 months ago – but has struggled with injuries and form since.
Elsewhere, British women’s number five Harriet Dart is primed to make her Grand Slam debut.
She is the first home player in action at this year’s championships when she plays Karolina Pliskova, the seventh seed, in the first match on court 12.
Pliskova reached the US Open final two years ago but her Wimbledon record is not impressive – with five second round appearances the best she has mustered.
And perhaps Dart be taking inspiration from a win against Pliskova’s identical twin sister Kristyna in Eastbourne last week – her first WTA Tour victory.
“You’ll never forget your first big win on Tour and having the British crowd behind me made it even more cool,” said Dart.
“These are all new experiences for me but I’m just embracing them. I feel really confident in my game and I just believe in myself.”
Elsewhere, Katie Swan, the British number seven, is third on court 14 against Romania’s Irina-Carmelia Begu.
British number one players
and
start their campaigns on Tuesday but two-time champion Andy Murray won’t be at the All England Club for the first time since 2007.
Murray has been sidelined since making the quarter-finals here last year, only returning to action a fortnight ago.
And he made the decision the impact of a Grand Slam tournament, with potential five set matches, was not sensible so early in his comeback.
He said: “I’ve made significant progress in practice and matches over the last ten days but after lengthy discussions with my team, we’ve decided that playing best of five set matches might be a bit too soon in the recovery process.
“We did everything we could to try and be ready in time.”
Sportsbeat 2018