LONDON - The draw for Wimbledon was relatively kind to defending champion Andy Murray. It was a lot more daunting for top-ranked Rafael Nadal.
Murray, who last year became the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, was drawn Friday to open the defense of his title against 104th-ranked David Goffin of Belgium, who will be playing in the main draw of the grass-court tournament for only the third time.
Murray, who is seeded third this year, has admitted he does not know how he will cope with the pressure of walking onto Centre Court as the defending champion on Monday.
At least he has a relatively smooth path in the draw until the quarterfinals, where he could play seventh-seeded David Ferrer or Grigor Dmitrov, who won last week's warm-up at Queen's Club. Then looms a potential semifinal against top-seeded Novak Djokovic - a rematch of last year's final.
''It will be a proud moment to come back as defending champion,'' said Murray, who is now coached by former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo after parting ways with Ivan Lendl earlier this season. ''I don't know how I will feel, I have no idea. I'm sure I will be nervous and feel some pressure, but I'll try to enjoy it. It's a new experience for me.''
Here's the top half of the men's draw:
[Courtesy: @TennisFanMark]
And the bottom half:
[Courtesy: @TennisFanMark]
For Nadal, it's a lot trickier. The Spaniard, who holds two Wimbledon titles, has not fared well on the grass the past two years, losing in the second round in 2012 and the first round last year. He's also coming off a loss in his first match at the Halle grass-court tournament.
The top-ranked Nadal, who is seeded No. 2, will start against No. 57 Martin Klizan of Slovakia. The Spaniard, who won his ninth French Open title earlier this month, could then face Lukas Rosol, who beat him here two years ago.
Nadal, the only man with at least one Grand Slam title in 10 consecutive years, could then be pitted against big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the third round. Waiting in the quarterfinals could be another big hitter - eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
Friday's draw put Murray in the top half with Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in 2011. Nadal is in the bottom half with seven-time champion Roger Federer.
Federer will start against Paolo Lorenzi of Italy and Djokovic will play his first match against Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan.
Djokovic could meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round and former finalist Tomas Berdych in the last eight.
Federer, who has lost before the quarterfinals at three of the last four Slams, might face third-ranked and Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka in an all-Swiss encounter in the quarters.