World No.1 Iga Swiatek has been dealt a quarter full of fellow Grand Slam champions in her quest to lift a first Wimbledon trophy.
The No.1 seed is currently on a 19-match winning streak after claiming her fourth Roland Garros title. For the second time this year, she will open a Grand Slam tournament with a rematch of her 2020 French Open final against Sofia Kenin. Swiatek defeated Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open titlist, in the first round of Melbourne this January as well.
Our defending champions' first round draw:
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2024
▪️ Marketa Vondrousova vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
▪️ Carlos Alcaraz vs Mark Lajal#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/DWBxJivx2b
Swiatek could also face 2018 Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the third round, and is projected to face 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round. She has yet to defeat Ostapenko in four attempts. In the quarterfinals, Swiatek is slated to meet defending champion and No.6 seed Marketa Vondrousova.
Swiatek and Vondrousova are in the same half of the draw as No.4 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion. In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed Coco Gauff's section includes former World No.1s Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka; while No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka could meet No.24 seed Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round. Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is in Sabalenka's quarter, and opens against No.22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in a first-time meeting.
Click here to view the full draw. Here's a breakdown of what to look out for in each quarter.
First quarter
Swiatek, who has not played on grass this year yet, has landed in a section full of significant foes -- but they also face their own hurdles. Kerber opens against freshly crowned Birmingham champion Yulia Putintseva, with No.27 seed Katerina Siniakova potentially awaiting the winner. Ostapenko starts against Birmingham runner-up Ajla Tomljanovic, who ousted her from Wimbledon in the 2021 third round.
Defending champion Vondrousova has drawn Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round, and is projected to face No.31 seed Barbora Krejcikova in the third round, in what would be a first-time meeting between the Czech compatriots. No.11 seed Danielle Collins is slated to be Vondrousova's fourth-round opponent; the American also has a tough opener against big-hitting Clara Tauson.
First-round matches to watch: [1] Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin, Yulia Putintseva vs. [WC] Angelique Kerber, [27] Katerina Siniakova vs. [Q] Marina Stakusic, [WC] Ajla Tomljanovic vs. [13] Jelena Ostapenko, [11] Danielle Collins vs. Clara Tauson
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Second quarter
Health issues have continued to plague Rybakina recently. The Kazakhstani retired from her Berlin quarterfinal last week due to stomach pain, and subsequently withdrew from Eastbourne. She faces a variety of challenges as she seeks to find her groove: powerful qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the first round, potentially followed by the variety of Laura Siegemund in the second. Potential third-round opponents include No.30 seed Leylah Fernandez, big-serving qualifier Alycia Parks and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki -- the latter two of whom face each other in a contrasting first round.
If Rybakina navigates past all of that, a strong grass-courter could await in the last 16 -- potentially 's-Hertogenbosch champion and No.15 seed Liudmila Samsonova or Berlin runner-up and No.17 seed Anna Kalinskaya.
Rybakina's projected quarterfinal opponent is Berlin champion and No.5 seed Jessica Pegula, who opens against rising 20-year-old compatriot Ashlyn Krueger. Pegula has also landed in a section full of players who enjoy grass. She could face either two-time Nottingham champion Katie Boulter or former Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria in the third round. In the last 16, Pegula is projected to face No.10 seed and three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur, but the Tunisian will have to first get past No.21 seed Elina Svitolina, who enjoyed an emotional run to her second Wimbledon semifinal last year.
Meanwhile, the first-round clash between former Wimbledon quarterfinalists Viktorija Golubic and Jule Niemeier will be one for the purists.
First-round matches to watch: [3] Elena Rybakina vs. [Q] Elena-Gabriela Ruse, [WC] Caroline Wozniacki vs. [Q] Alycia Parks, Viktorija Golubic vs. Jule Niemeier, [32] Katie Boulter vs. Tatjana Maria, Ashlyn Krueger vs. [5] Jessica Pegula
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Third quarter
Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka's path could rival Swiatek's for pitfalls as she bids to go beyond the semifinals at SW19 for the first time. After an opener against Emina Bektas, Sabalenka -- who retired from her Berlin quarterfinal last week due to a shoulder injury -- could face Donna Vekic in the second round. Vekic has reached four tour finals on grass, and holds a 6-2 head-to-head lead over Sabalenka, including a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-0 victory in Dubai this year.
A year ago, Andreeva charmed Wimbledon as she carved her way to the fourth round as a 16-year-old qualifier making her tournament debut. Now, she's seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time, having upset Sabalenka at Roland Garros to become the youngest major semifinalist since Martina Hingis in 1997. Somewhat appropriately, Andreeva's opener features two players who would still be eligible to contest the junior competition: she will face fellow 17-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova, who is just 27 days older than her. The pair are the two youngest competitors in the main draw this year, and have not played since their junior days -- a 6-1, 6-0 victory for Fruhvirtova in the 2021 College Park J1 final.
The winner of that teenage tilt will take on a former Top 10 player making her way back from injury -- either Karolina Muchova or Paula Badosa -- in the second round, then potentially No.14 seed Daria Kasatkina in the third round.
No.8 seed Zheng Qinwen is the projected quarterfinal opponent for whoever makes it out of the Sabalenka section. The Australian Open runner-up starts against qualifier Lulu Sun, and is projected to face No.9 seed Maria Sakkari in the last 16. However, Sakkari -- who has won just one match in her past five majors -- will potentially have to navigate the challenge of either Alexandrova or Raducanu in the third round first. The Greek player opens against qualifier McCartney Kessler.
First-round matches to watch: [8] Zheng Qinwen vs. [Q] Lulu Sun, Taylor Townsend vs. [25] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, [22] Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. [WC] Emma Raducanu, [SR] Paula Badosa vs. Karolina Muchova, Brenda Fruhvirtova vs. [24] Mirra Andreeva
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Fourth quarter
The key round for US Open champion Gauff, who opens against fellow American Caroline Dolehide, will be the fourth. That was the stage she reached as a 15-year-old qualifier here in 2019, but Wimbledon remains the only major at which she has yet to progress beyond it. This year, she's likely to face a formidable opponent there -- though both Azarenka and Osaka face tough openers first. Azarenka faces former US Open champion Sloane Stephens off the bat, while Osaka takes on Diane Parry and her one-handed backhand.
Former Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova is also lurking here, and could face Azarenka in the second round. But Pliskova's first-round opponent, the powerful left-handed 19-year-old Diana Shnaider, could be the dark horse of the entire section. Shnaider has reached her first grass-court semifinal in Bad Homburg this week.
Roland Garros finalist Jasmine Paolini, the No.7 seed, is Gauff's projected quarterfinal opponent. The Italian has also made her first grass-court semifinal this week in Eastbourne, and opens against Sara Sorribes Tormo. No.26 seed Linda Noskova, who stunned Swiatek at the Australian Open in January, is a potential third-round opponent; the 19-year-old could face former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round. Andreescu, playing the fourth tournament of her comeback from a back injury, starts against Jaqueline Cristian.
First-round matches to watch: [7] Jasmine Paolini vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo, [SR] Bianca Andreescu vs. Jaqueline Cristian, Sara Errani vs. [26] Linda Noskova, [16] Victoria Azarenka vs. Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova vs. Diana Shnaider, [WC] Naomi Osaka vs. Diane Parry
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