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Ammon News - Andy Murray, who took the first tentative steps of his comeback by defeating Benoît Paire at the Queen’s Club to reach the second round, has been announced as one of the initial recipients of a Wimbledon wild card.

The two-time champion, who played just his third ATP singles match of the year in London on Tuesday, is ranked down at 124, which is outside the cut-off for direct qualification.

Murray will be joined by fellow British players Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Samantha Murray Sharan, Francesca Jones, Liam Broady, Jay Clarke and 19-year-old Jack Draper, who won his maiden ATP Tour match at Queen’s on Monday.

Five-time champion Venus Williams and the Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz have also been given main draw wild cards.

Wimbledon’s chief executive, Sally Bolton, said that, as things stand, the All England Club is expecting Naomi Osaka to compete in the tournament, which begins on 28 June. Bolton said: “We’ve reached out to her team, we haven’t spoken to Naomi herself. At this point in time she’s entered into the Championships and we haven’t received confirmation that she won’t compete.”

Tournament director Jamie Baker added: “I had the conversation with her team. It’s absolutely clear that we’re here, we’re completely open for any discussions when they want to have that. Hopefully it goes without saying that we want the best players competing here no matter what.

“We treat every single player with a tremendous amount of care. That’s one of the main reasons for me and my role. We’ve been building those relationships so there’s a constant, ongoing dialogue and we will just continue to behave in this way.”

*theguardian