Wimbledon women’s singles draw: Swiatek in loaded top half, Serena starts against Tan

Top seed Swiatek has seven Grand Slam winners in her section of the draw, including seven-time champion Serena Williams, back after a year out through injury

24 June 2022

Serena Williams of the U.S. in action during her doubles quarter final match with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur against Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Taiwan’s Hao-Ching Chan (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

Jérémy Baudu

The waiting is over. The draw for the women’s singles at Wimbledon was made on Friday morning, so the players know the names of their immediate opponents. And the first thing they all learned was that the path to the title will be strewn with obstacles for world No 1 Iga Swiatek.

The Pole, fresh from her Roland-Garros triumph, sits on top of the draw in a half that contains seven other Grand Slam winners: Barbora Krejcikova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Sloane Stephens, Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Serena Williams. Paula Badosa, Coco Gauff and Karolina Pliskova are also in her section.

The bottom half is a little more open with only three Grand Slam winners present, Jelena Ostapenko, Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu. Ons Jabeur, the in-form player, will be the favourite to reach the final but she will have some dangerous opponents in the form of second seed Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari and Beatriz Haddad Maia, who has been very successful on grass this season.

The women’s draw can be found here.

Serena Williams of the U.S. in action at Wimbledon in 2019

The first-round matches not to be missed

Serena Williams – Harmony Tan

For her first match on the WTA Tour in a year, Serena Williams will be the focus of attention. The American has drawn the Frenchwoman Harmony Tan, whom she has never faced. The latter has only played one match on grass this year, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and lost in the first round to Tamara Zidansek – so it’s a match that Williams should feel confident about, even if we don’t know in what physical condition the American will be after so long away.

Simona Halep – Karolina Muchova

Back at Wimbledon for the first time since her victory in 2019, Simona Halep will face a formidable opponent on grass, Karolina Muchova. The Czech has only played the tournament twice, but has reached the quarter-finals both times. This first-round match promises to be an exciting match.

Emma Raducanu – Alison Van Uytvanck

She reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year on her first Grand Slam appearance, and now Emma Raducanu is back in London as a Grand Slam winner. The Briton has drawn Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round. The Belgian beat Elise Mertens and gave Aryna Sabalenka a hard time in ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the beginning of June. She also reached the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2018 – a formidable opponent on grass.

Other notable matches at Wimbledon

Angelique Kerber – Kristina Mladenovic
Alizé Cornet – Yulia Putintseva
Jil Teichmann – Ajla Tomljanovic

The matches we’re hoping to see

Third round: Serena Williams – Karolina Pliskova

A match that we used to see regularly five or six years ago – the two players met four times on the WTA Tour between 2014 and 2019, winning twice each. The Czech, the runner-up at Wimbledon last year, won their last duel, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 2019 (6-4, 4-6, 7-5).

Third round: Garbiñe Muguruza – Bianca Andreescu

The third round could see a duel between two Grand Slam winners. The two women have never faced each other on the WTA Tour.

Third round: Coco Gauff – Amanda Anisimova

The up-and-coming American tennis stars could meet again to fight for a place in the second week of Wimbledon. Roland-Garros runner-up Coco Gauff, 18, leads one win to nil in head-to-head matches against 20-year-old Amanda Anisimova.