Wimbledon is set to start later this month after being mired in controversy following the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, and the subsequent decision by the ATP and WTA tours to strip the tournament of ranking points.
Novak Djokovic will be the defending men’s champion at SW19 while last year’s women’s winner Ashleigh Barty will not be back as she has retired. Karolina Pliskova was the runner-up to Barty in 2021.
Cameron Norrie and Emma Raducanu will be the highest-ranked British players in the draw.
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Here’s all you need to know about Wimbledon 2022, including key dates, the schedule, whether Andy Murray and Raducanu are playing, how to watch highlights and the men’s and women’s finals live…
When does Wimbledon start and what’s the schedule?
The main draw for Wimbledon starts on Monday, June 27. Qualifying for the tournament gets under way on Monday, June 20 and finishes on Thursday, June 23.
This will be the first year that the Grand Slam is planned to be played over 14 days, including the middle Sunday, which was previously a rest day.
Wimbledon had been the only one of the four majors without any matches scheduled on the middle Sunday. Only on four occasions has there been play on the middle Sunday due to rain delays.
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The change to the schedule means there will be no ‘Manic Monday’ and the fourth-round singles matches will instead be spread across two days rather than all being played on the second Monday. The men’s and women’s singles matches will be mixed through the quarter-finals.
Play on the outside courts will start at 11am every day, with Court One following at 1pm and Centre Court at 1.30pm (all times BST).
The schedule for the main draw is:
- June 27, 28: men’s and women’s first round
- June 29, 30: men’s and women’s second round
- July 1, 2: men’s and women’s third round
- July 3, 4: men’s and women’s fourth round
- July 5, 6: men’s and women’s quarter-finals
- July 7: women’s semi-finals, mixed doubles final
- July 8: men’s semi-finals
- July 9: women’s final (2pm), men’s doubles final
- July 10: men’s final (2pm), women’s doubles final
When is the draw?
The draw will be held on Friday, June 24. Players will speak to the media on June 25 and 26.
Will Russian and Belarusian players be competing?
Men’s world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev will be the highest-profile absentee, while world No. 8 Andrey Rublev and world No. 23 Karen Khachanov will also miss out.
Last year’s women’s semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka will not be able to play as she is from Belarus, so is two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka. Russian French Open semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina will also not be able to play.
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The ATP and WTA tours responded to the ban by stripping Wimbledon of ranking points.
That means players will not be able to improve their rankings (usually players accrue points depending on how far they get in the tournament, with the winners receiving the most) and those players who did well last year will not get a chance to defend their points.
Djokovic will drop 2,000 points from his ranking as defending champion and Pliskova and Matteo Berrettini will drop 1,300 and 1,200 respectively as runners-up a year ago.
Who are the top seeds?
Wimbledon made a significant change last year as seeds are now determined by their world rankings, rather than with the help of the grass-court formula that had previously been used.
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Casper Ruud, who was beaten in the first round of Queen’s, is set to be the third seed ahead of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
On the women’s side, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek will be the top seed as she looks to extend her record-equalling 35-match winning run and secure a third Grand Slam title.
New world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit will currently be second seed, with Paula Badosa third seed and Ons Jabeur, who is playing doubles with Serena Williams in Eastbourne next week, the fourth seed.
Williams be unseeded as she has got a wild card to enter the tournament.
What’s the prize money?
The total prize money will be £40,350,000, which is a 15 per cent increase on last year.
The prize money will be equal on the men’s and women’s side.
Are Murray and Raducanu playing?
Murray and Raducanu will be the two headline British names if they play, but both have suffered injury setbacks early in their grass preparation.
Raducanu only lasted 35 minutes of her first grass match of the season at the Nottingham Open. The British No. 1, playing competitively in the UK for the first time since her shock US Open win last summer, had to withdraw due to a side injury. She may return at the Eastbourne International ahead of Wimbledon.
Raducanu will be competing at her home Grand Slam for just the second time after her shock run to the last 16 on debut a year ago.
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Asked about the prospect recently, Murray, who played mixed doubles with Serena Williams in 2019, said: “Last year we talked about it, but we both ended up doing well in the singles. I would love to play with Emma at some stage. I’m sure we will both focus on having good runs in the singles, but yeah – I’d love to do that.”
World No. 11 Cameron Norrie will be the highest-ranked of the men’s players while Jack Draper will be hoping to make an impact after taking a set off Djokovic in the first round in 2021. Draper also beat world No. 14 Taylor Fritz at Queen’s.
Wild cards have been awarded to Brits Liam Broady, Jay Clarke, Alastair Gray, Paul Jubb, Ryan Peniston, Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Sonay Kartal, Yuriko Miyazaki and Katie Swan.
Are Federer and Williams playing?
Roger Federer made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon a year ago but is not returning this summer as he continues to recover from knee surgery. It is expected that Federer, 40, will play the Laver Cup in September, and he is also signed up for the Swiss Indoors Basel in October.
Federer’s agent Tony Godsick said recently that the 20-time Grand Slam champion would like to play at SW19 again.
“It was a great effort last year on one leg, and I think he’d like another Wimbledon,” he told the Evening Standard. “That place has been incredibly special to him.”
Roger Federer
Image credit: Getty Images
Williams is ranked No. 1,208 in the world and has not played since suffering a leg injury in the first round against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon last year.
How can I watch Wimbledon highlights?
Who are the favourites?
Men’s Wimbledon
- Novak Djokovic – 5/6
- Rafael Nadal – 13/2
- Carlos Alcaraz – 13/2
- Matteo Berrettini 8/1
- Felix Auger-Aliassime – 11/1
Women’s Wimbledon
- Iga Swiatek – 6/4
- Coco Gauff – 12/1
- Simona Halep – 12/1
- Naomi Osaka – 14/1
- Serena Williams – 16/1
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Source: Euro Sports
