IT could have been worse .
. . but not much. Andy Murray, who once again carries the hopes of a nation at Wimbledon, faces a difficult start in his quest to win Olympic singles gold.
The third seed will meet the world No.26 Stanislas Wawrinka, who won doubles gold with Roger Federer in Beijing four years ago and will carry Switzerland's flag at today's opening ceremony, before potential matches against Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic before a possible final against Roger Federer.
The GB team leader Paul Hutchins said: "Andy has been practising with Wawrinka all week, so they will certainly know each other well.
"It's a tough draw, but Andy is the seeded player and will be looking to do very well here. It's a tough draw for both players."
Murray and brother Jamie meet Austria's Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya in the opening round of the men's doubles, while fellow British duo Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins face Gasquet and Julien Benneteau of France.
In the women's competition, Elena Baltacha will meet Agnes Szavay in the first round and should have high hopes of progress, with the Hungarian having played only one match in more than a year because of a back injury. The Scot is continuing her family's Olympic journey, with father Sergei a bronze medal winner as part of the USSR football team in Moscow in 1980.
Baltacha's mother Olga was selected for the same Games in the modern pentathlon but could not compete because she had to look after her son, Sergei Jr.
Heather Watson, like Baltacha, will fancy her chances against Spain's Silvia Soler Espinosa, but Anne Keothavong will have it all to do against the eighth seed and former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
In the women's doubles, Watson and Laura Robson were handed a tough draw against fifth seeds Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany, with Baltacha and Keothavong meeting another German pair, Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Gronefeld.
Meanwhile, Croatia's Ivo Karlovic, the world No.59, has withdrawn from the men's singles with a foot injury. Karlovic was due to play Slovakia's Lukas Lacko in the first round and his place will be taken by Germany's Philipp Petzschner.
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