ANDY MURRAY will play Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round at Wimbledon after being placed in Roger Federer's half of the draw.

It means the Scot, seeded third, can only meet defending champion and No 1 seed Novak Djokovic if he reaches the final.

Murray's path to the final would likely see him play Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 16, one of the Spanish pair Rafa Nadal or David Ferrer in the quarter-finals, before taking on Federer in the semis. The other semi-final is set to be between Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, a repeat of the recent French Open final won by the Swiss.

Murray's first opponent, though, is Kukushkin, the 27 year-old, Russian-born Kazakhstani ranked 51st in the world. His best performance at Wimbledon was last year when he reached the third round. The pair have met twice before, with Murray winning both times.