Roger Federer and Serena Williams bring the curtain up on Wimbledon Monday with the All England Club confident their tournament can comfortably capture the imagination of a public distracted by the World Cup.

Federer, the record eight-time champion, opens proceedings on Centre Court against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.

Williams, meanwhile, has been shunted off to Court One where she tackles Dutch outsider Arantxa Rus.

The American returns to the tournament for the first time since claiming a seventh title in 2016 having missed last year to give birth to her daughter.

“I think it remains a little bit nerve-wracking. It’s a big deal,” said Federer on returning to Centre Court and who is marking the 15th anniversary of his first Wimbledon title in 2003.

“Besides the history and the mythical place that it is, you cannot also practice on it.

“The entire atmosphere changes at Wimbledon, and you realise the eyes are on you.”

World number 57 Lajovic will know what to expect — the Serb was beaten by Federer in straight sets in the second round of Wimbledon in 2017.

Federer is the overwhelming favourite to lift a ninth title and 21st career major especially with old rival Rafael Nadal, fresh from an 11th French Open, not having played a grass court warm-up event.

The 36-year-old Swiss star’s odds also improved when two-time champion Ansy Murray withdrew on Sunday with injury.

Three-time winner Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, is still struggling with form and confidence so badly bruised by the elbow injury he suffered at Wimbledon 12 months ago.

However, even Federer cannot escape the giant shadow cast on the sporting landscape by the ongoing World Cup.

He was even dragged into a discussion on Sunday over whether or not he and Nadal — 10 years after their epic All England Club final — could be likened to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Sure, yeah. They have a long-standing rivalry. I have the same with Rafa,” Federer said.

“They’re very different from one another. I guess there’s some similarities there as well.”

The All England Club will stick to its policy of refusing to show World Cup matches on its giant screen adjacent to Court One.

The men’s final, meanwhile, will still start at 2pm local time as scheduled on Sunday, July 15 — just two hours before the World Cup final kicks off in Moscow.

Williams, seeded 25 this year despite a ranking of 181, has never played Rus, the world 107 who made the third round in 2012 but failed to get out of qualifying on her last three visits.

Monday’s other Centre Court matches see Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki face Varvara Lepchenko of the United States.

Bulgarian sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov, a semi-finalist in 2014, completes the programme against three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka.

Also getting their campaigns underway on Monday are five-time women’s champion Venus Williams against Johanna Larsson.

Third-seeded Marin Cilic, the runner-up to Federer in 2017 and this year’s Queen’s champion, takes on Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

Brazil will look to keep their bid for a record sixth World Cup crown on track when they face Mexico on Monday with a quarter-final place at stake after seeing Spain join the list of contenders to be eliminated.

Monday’s other last-16 game sees a much-fancied Belgium take on a Japan side who are dreaming of reaching the quarters for the first time after scraping through their group thanks to their fair-play record.

While Neymar’s Brazil, and a Belgian outfit inspired by Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, are both expected to advance, events of the weekend have shown that nothing can be taken for granted.

Spain, the 2010 winners, were stunned on Sunday as they lost on penalties to Russia in Moscow, with Igor Akinfeev the hero for the hosts, saving two spot-kicks.

Russia won 4-3 in the shoot-out after the tie ended 1-1 at the Luzhniki Stadium, and will now play Croatia in the last eight.

Croatia also won on penalties, defeating Denmark 3-2 in the shoot-out following another 1-1 draw, with Luka Modric having a spot-kick saved late in extra time.

They look like serious contenders, while for Spain their elimination is a disaster — they had been considered among the favourites but had their preparations ruined when coach Julen Lopetegui was sensationally sacked on the eve of the tournament.

They join 2014 winners Germany, Argentina and European champions Portugal in being knocked out of a competition for which neither Italy nor the Netherlands — two of the great World Cup names — even qualified.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the two great individuals of the last decade, have gone home, their hopes of ever winning the World Cup probably over.

But Neymar is still dreaming of leading Brazil to glory, and his side take on Mexico in the Volga river port city of Samara (1400 GMT). Coach Tite insists his talisman is now approaching his best form again, four months after undergoing surgery on a fractured foot.

“Now, he’s returned to a very high level. He’s played a lot… I told him, and he knows, about the price he’s had to pay to get back to this level,” said Tite.

– Can Mexico break curse? –

Brazil will be without left-back Marcelo due to a back problem, so Filipe Luis will take his place against a Mexico side not to be taken lightly.

These teams drew 0-0 in the group stage of the last World Cup, and Mexico qualified for the last 16 here at the expense of Germany, beating the holders 1-0 in Moscow in their opening game.

Now, ‘El Tri’ are bidding to end the ‘Curse of the Fifth Game’ — they have never made it to the quarter-finals of a World Cup on foreign soil and have suffered six consecutive eliminations in the first knockout round, not managing to reach that fifth game.

However, coach Juan Carlos Osorio said he was not concerned about past history.

“We don’t talk about that to our players. We spoke about the possibility of coming up against Brazil a few months ago, and here we are,” he said.

The winner of that tie will go on to face the winner of Monday’s other game, which sees Belgium meet Japan in Rostov-on-Don (1800 GMT).

Roberto Martinez’s dangerous side have lived up to their billing so far, winning all three group games. A host of key players were rested for the 1-0 victory against England, including Hazard, Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne, but they will return here.

However, Adnan Januzaj, who scored the winner in that match, has suffered a knee knock in training.

This might be the best chance for Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ to win a major trophy after being eliminated in the last eight at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.

“This is our time to shine, definitely. We have top players and we play as a group, especially after the win over England,” said Chelsea star Hazard.

“It’s in our hands, we need to give everything and see what happens.”

Japan reached this stage in controversial manner, by virtue of collecting fewer yellow cards in the group phase than Senegal. They have never won a knockout-round game at the competition.

“Maybe Belgium feel the tournament is starting after their three wins, but I’d like to feel we are on a par with them. We have played to our best, but the players have something more to offer,” said coach Akira Nishino.

Australia, Pakistan and Zimbabwe meet in a T20 tri-series starting in Harare on Sunday with the world number one ranking on the line in the sport’s shortest format.

Pakistan travel to Zimbabwe as the world’s top rated team but if the Australians are able to put their torrid tour of England behind them they could claim that status for themselves.

Australia are in dire need of a confidence booster after enduring a 6-0 drubbing across limited overs formats on their tour of England, and ahead of their arrival in Zimbabwe coach Justin Langer insisted “there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Australia slipped down to third in the ICC’s T20 rankings after their defeat to England but could come out of the Zimbabwe tri-series with the top ranking if they are able to reverse their losing streak.

The challenge is a stiff one, however, as Australia are currently missing six key limited overs players, with Steve Smith and David Warner currently serving bans while Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitch Marsh all recovering from injuries.

They will be up against a Pakistan side brimming with confidence after having lost only one of their eight T20 internationals this year.

Looking to extend their success, Pakistan named a full strength squad for their trip to Zimbabwe.

They decided not to rest fast bowler Mohammad Amir for this tour, while the contributions of 19-year-old leg-spinner Shadab Khan will also be crucial in conditions expected to favour spin.

The experienced Mohammad Hafeez will likely return to their top order after his bowling action was cleared as legal last month.

“Hafeez warranted a place after clearing his action,” said Pakistan selector Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Uncapped opener Sahibzada Farhan was also included “after showing good form in domestic matches,” said Inzamam. Pakistan will also bank on the experience of captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who has toured Zimbabwe twice before.

Hosts Zimbabwe have had their own side shorn of valuable experience due to a pay dispute between Zimbabwe Cricket and several senior players.

There will be a new look to their team when they take on Pakistan in Sunday’s opener, with young batsman Tarisai Musakanda tipped to be named as new captain.

The Zimbabweans will also be distracted by the potential outcomes of the ongoing ICC conference, where their cricket board’s massive debts are being discussed.

The signs are that this could be a difficult first outing for new coach Lalchand Rajput.

“To be very honest, I just look at the players who are available and the best 15 or 17 which we have picked,” he said.

“So my job is to get the 17 who are available and prepare them for the tri-series. I am not interested in who is available or not available. My job is for the people who are available and I want to prepare them well for the tri-series.”

The three teams will play each other twice, with a rest day on Saturday before the top two sides meet in next Sunday’s final.