DEMANDING, dangerous, but doable. Any draw that entails potential meetings with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic is a formidable one, but Andy Murray will not be fazed by the schedule he has been handed for this year’s Wimbledon.

True, on paper the Scottish No 3 seed would rather be in Djokovic’s shoes. The top seed and defending champion has found himself in what looks like being the most becalmed quarter of the draw, and should be able to negotiate the first week and a bit without being unduly stretched.

Even so, while Murray might have hoped to be dealt a more benign hand, it is obvious after his victory at Queen’s last week that he is in the form to launch a serious assault on the title. Getting past Nadal and Federer will, as ever, be tough, but neither of those former champions is likely to be delighted to find himself in the same half as Murray. And let us not forget the reason why those three members of the big four have all been grouped together: Nadal’s loss of form, which has seen him slip down the seedings to No 10.

A few years ago, a quarter-final meeting between Murray and Nadal would have been a frightening prospect from a British point of view, but not at present. In any case, if results go according to the seedings, it will be another Spaniard, David Ferrer, whom Murray meets in the last eight. And having last month got the better of Ferrer on clay, the No 8 seed’s best surface, Murray will be a solid favourite on grass.

In any two-week tournament, realistic contenders aim to get through to the latter stages without undue expenditure of energy, and there is always the risk that an epic result against someone such as Nadal or Federer would be a Pyrrhic victory, leaving Murray fatally weakened before a meeting with Djokovic. But there is such strength in depth in the men’s game at present that many players in the top 30 or 40 are capable of putting up a real fight against the leading few. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded to meet Murray in the fourth round, is one of those players who can, at the very least, deplete the resources of his more highly ranked adversaries.

Having been paired with Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, the world No 58, Murray should be able to ease through his opening encounter. No such luxury has been afforded Britain’s James Ward, who has Ferrer first up.

Djokovic’s quarter, while light on realistic title hopefuls, nonetheless contains some awkward opponents. Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom he meets in the first round, is the world No 33. Lleyton Hewitt, his potential next opponent, is competing for the last time before retirement at the place he took by storm in 2002 and will be eager to bid farewell on a high note. And another Australian, Bernard Tomic, will constitute an even tougher task in the third round.

Stan Wawrinka, the No 4 seed, is coming into this tournament on the back of his French Open victory, and a good campaign over the next fortnight will at least cement his status as the greatest threat to the big four. Indeed, combined with another flop by Nadal, it should really see Wawrinka replace the former champion as a member of that quartet.

But, although he reached the semi-finals last year, the Swiss player had not previously got past the second round since 2009, when he lost to Murray in the last 16. He should again make it through to the last four, where he is due to meet Djokovic, but has yet to prove that he can prevail over the world No 1 on grass the way he did on clay at Roland Garros.