Wimbledon 'shambles' as singles draw mix-up causes chaos to leave fans furious
Friday's highly-anticipated Wimbledon draw descended into chaos after a mix-up in the ladies singles slots.
The tournament's draw began with the women's singles, with Polish star and world No 1 Iga Swiatek the top seed. Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka were among the unseeded players.
Wimbledon referee Denise Parnell was conducting the draw and while things looked to be going smoothly, suddenly there seemed to be some confusion in the draw room between the official and the graphics team.
Russian tennis player Mirra Andreeva appeared on the screen instead of Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia. The mix-up resulted in a confusing knock-on effect which resulted in players being drawn into the wrong lines.
The draw was momentarily paused to consult the problem. And after a quick discussion, the draw was back under way.
Even so, the disruption did not go down well with viewers watching on anxiously to discover the fate of the tennis stars.
Fans slammed the chaos. One wrote on social media: "Thought I’d tune into the Wimbledon draw for the first time ever, and what an absolute shambles, what is going on." Another said: "Wimbledon ladies singles draw such a mess."
Another user observed, "Tremendous fun in the Wimbledon draw. Making a right mess. Ref won't slow down! Saying things faster won't help!"
Wimbledon gets underway next week
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Despite the early hiccups, the draw eventually reached its conclusion. Haddad Maia was drawn against Magdalena Frech, while Swiatek was given a tall order having been drawn against former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin for the first round. British star Emma Raducanu will play 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The women's singles first-round draw is as follows:
Fran Jones (W) vs Petra Martic
Alja Tomljanovic vs Jelena Ostapenko (13)
Marketa Vondrousova vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
Katie Boulter vs Tatjana Maria
Harriet Dart vs Zhuoxuan Bai (Q)
Emma Raducanu vs Ekaterina Alexandrova (22)
Tamara Korpatsch vs Yuriko Lily Miyazaki (W)
Mirra Andreeva (24) vs Brenda Fruhvitrova
Aryna Sabalenka (2) vs Emina Bektas
Heather Watson (W) vs Greet Minnen
Victoria Azarenka (16) vs Sloane Stephens
Naomi Osaka (WC) vs Diane Parry
Sonay Kartal (Q) vs Sorana Cirstea
Coco Gauff (2) vs Caroline Dolehide
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