WIMBLEDON DRAW CHAOS AS MIRRA ANDREEVA PICKED TWICE CAUSING HUGE KNOCK-ON EFFECT

The Wimbledon draw descended into chaos on Friday morning after Mirra Andreeva appeared to be drawn twice due to a graphics error.

As the ladies draw was being made just after 10am, Andreeva's name and picture mistakenly appeared on the screen instead of Brazilian star Beatriz Haddad Maia, who had in fact been drawn out of the bag.

And the mistake caused a ripple effect of confusion as the team in charge struggled to work out how to rectify the issue.

Wimbledon is set to get underway on Monday, with Carlos Alcaraz aiming to win the men's trophy for the second successive year and ladies' champion Marketa Vondrousova looking to defend her title from 2023.

And following the conclusion of the qualifying matches, the main men's and ladies' draw were undertaken ahead of the weekend.

The ladies' draw came first, with Wimbledon referee Denise Parnell confirming names after they had been drawn out of a black bag. But following a smooth opening, chaos ensued following the blunder with Andreeva's graphic.

The error caused a knock-on effect as other players were subsequently placed in the wrong lines of the draw, with proceedings being stopped temporarily while the problem was sorted.

And tennis fans on X were quick to jump on the comical mistake, with @tekerrrrrr posting: "Tremendous fun in the #Wimbledon draw. Making a right mess. Ref won't slow down! Saying things faster won't help!"

Meanwhile, @ndrwsctt took to the social media platform and simply wrote: "What a mess this draw is."

The issue was eventually rectified as Haddad Maia was confirmed to have been drawn against Polish star Magdalena Frech in her opening match. And Russian player Mirra Andreeva will go head-to-head with Czech ace Brenda Fruhvirtova in her first round encounter.

The ladies' draw threw up plenty of interesting first round encounters, with reigning champion Vondrousova set to face Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

Top seed Iga Swiatek has been handed a tough first match as she will take on former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, while second seed Aryna Sabalenka is scheduled to play against Emina Bektas.

British star and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has been drawn against Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Meanwhile, in the men's draw Andy Murray is set for a showdown with 37th seed Tomas Machac, while seven-time champion Novak Djokovic has been handed a clash with qualifier Vit Kopriva should the Serbian be fit to compete at the tournament following a knee operation.

2024-06-28T09:30:53Z dg43tfdfdgfd