Wimbledon: Prajnesh to meet Raonic in first round

India's top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran drew world number 17 Milos Raonic of Canada as his first round opponent at the Wimbledon Championships, starting Monday.

Left-handed Prajnesh, ranked 94 in the world, will make his maiden appearance on the hallowed grass courts of Wimbledon.

Grass is not Prajnesh's preferred surface; he excels on hardcourts.

It will be his third straight appearance at Grand Slam events this season, having made first round exits at the Australian and French Open.

Prajnesh is the only Indian in the singles main draw as Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina exited after losing their respective second round matches.

In the men's doubles, Divij Sharan and his Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner will open their campaign against German 13th seeded pair of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas are up against New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.

The Indian team of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja have been pitted against veteran Australian Lleyton Hewitt and his compatriot Jordan Thompson.

Veteran Leander Paes and Benoit Paire will clash with the Kazakhstan pair of Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin.

The mixed doubles draw will be announced next week.