This time last year, it was then world No1 Ash Barty who was the favourite coming into Wimbledon. She had built a stunning first half of the season, and owned a game that worked the grass to perfection. Sure enough, she added the title to her French Open from 2020, and also went on to win on her home courts in Australia at the start of this year.

She was still No1, and in her prime—the yardstick for every other player. But suddenly, she retired from tennis to follow other ambitions. Who, then, would take the prime opening slot on first Tuesday, an honour usually bestowed on the defending champion?

Filling the Tuesday spotlight

In the prime spot is 21-year-old Iga Swiatek, who took over the No1 ranking in March and went on a winning spree that put even Barty’s in the shade: six back-to-back titles, four at 1000 level, plus a second French Open, to notch up a 44-3 season.

Like Barty, Swiatek is a former Wimbledon junior champion, although the Pole had scored few wins on grass until her fourth round at Wimbledon last summer. But also like Barty, Swiatek’s movement, tactical nous, and range of shot-making would surely bear more fruit soon—possibly even this year. So should she open play on first Tuesday?

It so happens that there is a former champion in the draw with a strong case: No16 Seed Simona Halep, also a former French Open champion and No1. The popular Halep was unable to defend her 2019 title last year due to injury, and the Barty ‘vacancy’ gave Wimbledon the chance to remedy that. However, while the All England Club ruminated, Halep withdrew from her semi-final in Bad Homburg with a neck problem. In case this was history repeating, the tournament opted for Swiatek—and a worthy choice.

Champions’ quarter

But then there is another champion making an unexpected late entry to this year’s draw having not played since injuring herself in the first round here last year: Serena Williams. Had she slipped into retirement without formally announcing it? Not a bit: with no competition except a couple of doubles match on Eastbourne’s grass this week, she is likely to be one of the biggest draws at Wimbledon.

Williams is a seven-time champion, with 98 match-wins at the All England Club, and still in pursuit of a record 24th Major title, despite four-times being a runner-up since she won No23 in 2017. She may not open play on Tuesday, but expect the 40-year-old tennis superstar to be front and centre as long as she is in London.

It so happens, though, that despite what should be a straightforward opening against Harmony Tan, Williams’ problems, as an unseeded wild card, soon pile up. She could meet No32 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo in the second round, and last year’s runner-up, No6 seed Karolina Pliskova, in the third.

Come Round 4, and the teenage No11 seed Coco Gauff, who reached her first Major final at Roland Garros a month ago, may wait—if she comes through No20 Amanda Anisimova.

As for the quarter-finals, two former champions—Halep and Petra Kvitova—are joined by the powerful No4 seed, Paula Badosa as big contenders. Kvitova, indeed, has just reached the final of the WTA500 in Eastbourne.

Major names pervade top quarter

This also happens to be the half topped by Swiatek, who has the chance to make history not just by winning a seventh straight title but by overtaking Venus Williams’ 35-match winning streak, the longest this century. The Pole just needs to beat qualifier Jana Fett in her opener.

Swiatek’s first seed is No27 seed Yulia Putintseva, with No13 seed Barbora Krejcikova—another French Open champion—in the fourth round. The top seed should come through, but her quarter does then throw in the No9 seed and 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, and No8 seed Jessica Pegula.

Muguruza has earlier tests of her own, however: two unseeded US Open champions, Sloane Stephens and Bianca Andreescu, and the latter has just reached the final in Bad Homburg.

Tough-to-call bottom half

There are eight Major champions in the top half of the draw, just three in the bottom half, and only one Wimbledon champion in the shape of No15 seed Angelique Kerber.

The German shares her eighth with No3 seed, the in-form Ons Jabeur, who partnered Williams in that Eastbourne doubles draw before withdrawing with a knee problem.

The Tunisian player has been climbing the rankings at a pace, and pleasing fans along the way with her all-court craft and creative style of play. She was a quarter-finalist last time she played at Wimbledon, and has just won the grass WTA500 title in Berlin—as well as reaching the final on Rome’s clay. So assuming the Tunisian has recovered, she will be one to watch—for many reasons.

However, the always-dangerous Kaia Kanepi lurks in the third round for Jabeur, with Kerber a possible in the fourth round, and US Open champion Emma Raducanu drawn to meet her in the quarters.

It was at Wimbledon last year that the young Briton scored her first big wins, making the fourth round, though she has struggled to build on her 2021 successes as she contended with a succession of niggling injuries.

She retired during her only grass match this year, in Nottingham, and so is something of an unknown quantity, and she has a tough opener against Alison Van Uytvanck, who has won two non-tour events on grass already.

Other dangers in the quarter include No28 Alison Riske and No19 Madison Keys, plus No7 seed and Australian Open runner-up, Danielle Collins.

The bottom quarter is led by No2 seed Anett Kontaveit, though the Estonian has played little after revealing she was still suffering from the after-effects of Covid.

Meanwhile, the No5 seed Maria Sakkari has been regaining her form on the grass to reach the Berlin semis, but has the unpredictable No12 seed Jelena Ostapenko in her eighth—and the former French Open champion is one match away from defending her Eastbourne title this week.

And to get to the quarters, Kontaveit may also have to dispatch either No23 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who has just set a 12-match grass winning streak to reach the Eastbourne semis, or No14 seed Belinda Bencic, if the Swiss woman’s ankle has healed since the Berlin final.

Strong British presence

There are eight British women in the singles draw, headed by the only seed, Raducanu. Heather Watson and Harriet Dart made the main draw on ranking, while the rest were awarded wild cards: Sonay Kartal, Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Katie Swan, and Yuriko Miyazaki.

Previous champions in draw: Serena Williams (7), Petra Kvitova (2), Garbine Muguruza (1), Angelique Kerber (1)

Withdrawn potential seeds

No16 Leylah Fernandez

NB also: Elina Svitolina, Marketa Vondrousova, Jaqueline Cristian, Sofia Kenin, Naomi Osaka, Ana Konjuh

Banned potential seeds [from Russia and Belarus]

No6 Aryna Sabalenka, No13 Daria Kasatkina, No20 Victoria Azarenka, No21 Veronika Kudermetova, No28 Ekaterina Alexandrova

NB also: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Liudmila Samsonova, Anna Kalinskaya, Anastasia Potapova, Varvara Gracheva

Draw

Top half, first quarter, No1 Swiatek

R1 Pett; R2 Kartal/Danka Kovinic; 1st seed No27 Putintseva; R4 No18 Jil Teichmann/No13 Krejcikova; QF No9 Muguruza/No17 Elena Rybakina/No30 Shelby Rogers/No8 Pegula

Top half, second quarter, No4 Badosa

R1 Louisa Chirico; R2 Irina Bara/Chloe Paquet; 1st seed No25 Kvitova; R4 No21 Camila Giorgi/No16 Halep; QF No11 Gauff/No20 Anisimova/No32 Sorribes Tormo/No6 Pliskova

Bottom half, third quarter, No3 Jabeur

R1 Mirjam Bjorklund; R2 Rebecca Marino/Katarzyna Kawa; 1st seed No31 Kanepi; R4 No15 Kerber/No24 Elise Mertens; QF No10 Raducanu/No19 Keys/No28 Riske/No7 Collins

Bottom half, fourth quarter, No2 Kontaveit

R1 Bernarda Pera; R2 Xiyu Wang/Jule Niemeier; 1st seed No29 Anhelina Kalinina; R4 No14 Haddad Maia/No14 Bencic; QF No12 Ostapenko/No22 Martina Trevisan/No26 Sorana Cirstea/No5 Sakkari

MORE: Wimbledon 2022: The stage awaits – but who will take the spotlight in this out-of-kilter year?

The post Wimbledon 2022 women’s draw preview: Can anyone stop super Swiatek? appeared first on The Sport Review.