Seven-time champion Roger Federer and world number one Rafael Nadal will start their quest to win the Wimbledon championship at the All England Club on Tuesday.
Federer, who is bidding to win his eighth title at the All England Club, is pitted against Paolo Lorenzi in the first round. This will be the first meeting between these two on a professional tour and the fourth-seed is expected to have an easy outing against the Italian.
The Swiss Maestro is coming into the tournament on the back of some fine performances on grass, after crashing out of the French Open in the fourth round. Federer captured his 79th overall title when he defeated Alejandro Falla in the final of the Aegon Championship.
Federer is in much better form compared to previous Grand Slam events and the 32-year-old insisted that he is feeling confident ahead of his first round clash and called himself a title contender.
"I feel like I'm a contender for the tournament," Federer said. "I feel like if things click here, I should be able to win the tournament; whereas at Roland Garros I feel like I'm slightly more dependent on (Nadal). (When I play at Wimbledon) it's more on my racquet. As soon as that's the case, you are more confident in your chances."
The 17-time major winner said he is more prepared than the previous season, when he was hit by back trouble. Mentally relaxed, Federer added that he is confident about his game and everything was working perfectly for him.
"It's a pleasure being healthy and really fit and eager to give it a go again," said Federer. "This year I feel all the options are there: return, serve, serve and volley, my backhand - everything is working to my liking. For that reason, I feel I'm a bit more relaxed mentally because I know it is there."
In another first round encounter, two-time champion Nadal will look to overcome the first round hurdle against Martin Klizan of Serbia. These two have faced each other just once in the 2013 French Open, when the Spaniard got the better of Klizan.
Nadal is on course to win his third back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon crowns, but it will not be an easy task for him as grass is not his favourite surface. The King of Clay has failed to take his clay-court form to grass, as he went down against Dustin Brown in the Gerry Weber Open.
The 14-time major winner had struggled in his previous two outings at the All England Club, as in 2012 he crashed out in the second round, while last year he failed to clear the first round obstacle.
The man from Mallorca is aware about his woeful outings on grass and said he is concentrating on winning his opening rubber and confident of playing well this time.
"I don't see farther than today," Nadal said. "I have a tough first round against Klizan. For the last two years I lost in the first and second round...I start from the first round in every surface. You can imagine even more here on grass."
"Personally I feel that I am doing things better," he added. "It is true that for the last couple of years I didn't play lot of matches on grass, but I am confident that I can do it again. I am not talking about winning, (rather) talking about play better than what I did the last couple of years on grass."
Schedule of Play
Stanislas Wawrinka vs Joao Sousa 4:00 pm IST, 6:30 am ET and 1:30 pm GMT start
Kei Nishikori vs Kenny De Schepper 4:00 pm IST, 6:30 am ET and 1:30 pm GMT start
Roger Federer vs Paolo Lorenzi 6:00 pm IST, 8:30 am ET and 12:30 pm GMT start
Rafael Nadal vs Martin Klizan 7:30 pm IST, 10:30 am ET and 2:00 pm GMT start
Milos Raonic vs Matthew Ebden 8:00 pm IST, 10:30 am ET and 2:00 pm GMT start
Where to Watch Live
The day's action is scheduled for 4:00 pm IST, 10:30 am GMT and 6:30 am ET start with live coverage on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1 in India with live streaming option HERE and HERE. International views can catch the action HERE and HERE or listen to the action free HERE.
BBC will broadcast matches live in UK viewers can also live stream the action HERE or HERE. Catch the action live on ESPN in the United States or see live streaming HERE. SuperSport will telecast action in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa and viewers can catch the matches live HERE.
