Centre Court at Wimbledon on Monday will tell a tale of two men: one vying to prove he can be the future of British tennis and another fighting to show he is not ready to be consigned to its past.
First up is 19-year-old Jack Draper against world No 1 Novak Djokovic, and in the final match it’s 34-year-old Andy Murray against his metal hip, his desperate lack of match practice and Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.
To the younger player first, and his date with the man who bestrides the tennis world like a colossus.
Jack Draper beat Jannik Sinner and Alexander Bublik as the teenager did brilliantly at Queen’s
Greg Rusedski is excited to see how the big server does at Wimbledon against Novak Djokovic
Draper’s talent has long been known, but his performance at Queen’s Club in the cinch Championships earlier this month, beating two top-40 players, still came as a pleasant surprise.
From one big-serving British leftie to another, former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski reckons Draper is the man to carry the flag into the post-Murray world.
‘He looks the heir apparent,’ said Rusedski. ‘It’s going to be very interesting to see Jack against the best player on the planet, see how his game holds up.
Andy Murray practiced with Roger Federer before his SW19 return against Nikoloz Basilashvili
‘It’s an amazing experience to play the defending champion in the opening match of the Championships.’
Draper will be one of 10 home hopefuls on a bumper first day of British action. Plenty will have more immediate hopes of making a run through the draw, but Rusedski reckons none have Draper’s potential.
‘He has the full package,’ said the 47-year-old. ‘He is still in those early stages. Draper is our best prospect so far. He is a fellow leftie with a big serve and good groundstrokes.
‘The areas in his game to work on are his defence and transitioning forward a little bit more.’
Djokovic comes into Wimbledon just two weeks after winning the French Open and with only a few doubles matches in Mallorca by way of grass-court preparation, so the first round should be the best time to play him.
If Draper can bring his leftie serve and booming forehand to bear, he could at least make it an uncomfortable afternoon for the defending champion.
Draper will have his work cut out against the 19-time major winner and French Open champion
Taking Djokovic into a tiebreak or even, whisper it, sneaking a set would go down as a fine debut at the Championships for the youngster.
Rusedski knows all about the pressure of being a home player at Wimbledon, sharing the burden with Tim Henman for a decade before Murray’s talent erupted and blew expectations for British tennis sky high.
‘It is a bit unfair for that next generation because of what Andy has achieved,’ said Rusedski.
‘Tim and I both had excellent careers, getting to No 4 in the world, but Andy has raised the bar.
‘I hope the public’s expectation is not: if you don’t win Wimbledon, you aren’t very good.
‘Anybody who gets to the top 10 in the world has had an exceptional career and anybody who gets to the top 50 has done phenomenally.’
Murray has greatly raised the bar for British tennis after his Wimbledon wins in 2013 and 2016
We must not talk about Murray in the past tense just yet, although the British public will tune in on Monday knowing they could conceivably be watching the two-time champion’s final singles match at Wimbledon.
Where once the Scot’s passage to the second week was a formality, now it would represent one of his greatest achievements.
Murray has been vulnerable to big-hitters during his comeback from hip resurfacing surgery, and few hit bigger than 24th seed Basilashvili. Murray will have to use all his grass-court skill to make his opponent uncomfortable.
If he manages to come through without a five-set epic, his second round against either Oscar Otte or Arthur Rinderknech looks promising, and from there he may be able to tread the fine balance between putting matches in his legs and not overburdening his body.
Two players who will be hoping to put injury problems of their own behind them on Monday are the two Katies, Swan and Boulter.
The former has battled wrist and back issues but scored three superb wins to come through qualifying.
Swan plays 23rd seed Madison Keys, who is among the most powerful women on tour but can be inconsistent.
Katie Swan faces a daunting task against Madison Keys after coming through qualifying
Wildcard Boulter has a more promising draw against qualifier Danielle Lao of the USA, and was having a solid year before an elbow injury forced her out of the quarter-finals in Nottingham earlier this month.
Whether she is fully recovered for the Championships remains to be seen. After the back issues that derailed her excellent progress in 2019, Boulter deserves a slice of luck.
If she and Swan can stay healthy and fulfil their potential, and Draper live up to his hefty billing, perhaps there can be life after Andy after all.