Defending women’s Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and runner-up Ons Jabeur are paired in a loaded quarterfinal bracket and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek faces a challenging opener against No. 33 Zhu Lin of China in the draw released for the Grand Slam on Friday.
Play begins Monday at the All England Club with Swiatek on a tight turnaround from her unforced exit due to illness at the grasscourt tune-up in Bad Homburg, Germany, on Friday.
The top seed Swiatek, a junior Wimbledon champion who has never advanced beyond the fourth round in the Slam, and Lin are playing for the first time. Lin just missed being seeded for the tournament. No. 7 seed Coco Gauff is in Swiatek’s quarterfinal but must get by qualifier Sofia Kenin, who defeated Gauff in 2020 at the Australian Open.
No. 3 seed Rybakina beat Jabeur in the women’s final in 2022. American Shelby Rodgers faces Rybakina in the first round and sixth-seeded Jabeur squares off with Magdalena French.
Wild-card Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion with 90 career wins in 23 previous appearances at the All England Club, plays in her sixth match of the year in a difficult opener with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, a semifinalist in 2019. Gauff could be waiting in a possible third-round matchup and is a potential quarterfinal opponent of Swiatek.
As a 15-year-old, Gauff defeated Williams, now 43, at Wimbledon in 2019. Williams’ last Wimbledon singles title was in 2008.
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka plays Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, who reached the second round for the first time in 2022.
American Jessica Pegula, who enters off a singles match loss at Eastbourne to doubles partner Gauff, is the No. 4 seed and looks for her first Wimbledon quarterfinal. She reached the third round last year and faces American Lauren Davis on Monday.
France’s Carolina Garcia, seeded fifth, is a possible quarterfinal foe of Pegula. Garcia retired in the quarterfinals at Eastbourne this week but eliminated Pegula in the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in 2022 and won their match in the Australian Open last year.
Pegula defeated Garcia in straight sets at Wimbledon in 2021.
–Field Level Media
