With the 2022 grass-court season in full force, attention turns to the oldest and most prestigious tennis major. The 135th Wimbledon Championships get underway on Monday, June 27th, and it will be up to the young guns to oust two of the sport’s long-serving competitors.
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A first in Wimbledon history, and for the first time since the 1999 Australian Open, is that the reigning no.1 and no.2 ranked Men’s players will miss this year’s competition at the All England Club. World no.1 Daniil Medvedev will not be competing due to the retrospective ban on Russian and Belarusian players, in the wake of Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine. This means Medvedev, Andrey Rublev (world no.8), and Karen Khachanov (world no.22) are all barred from taking part at SW19 this year.
In turn, Wimbledon has been stripped of its ranking points over the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the event. This move will largely benefit the absent Medvedev, with reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic set to lose out on 2,000 points at the conclusion of the upcoming tournament.
Alexander Zverev climbed to 2nd in the latest world rankings, however the 25-year-old German has been ruled out for an undisclosed period after he underwent surgery on torn ankle ligaments suffered during his French Open semifinal bout with Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic recently dropped down to 3rd in the ATP rankings, marking the first time in four years he has been ranked outside the top two in the world, however the absence of Medvedev and Zverev means the 20-time major winner will be the top seed at Wimbledon for an eighth time.
Djokovic is a six-time champion at the All England Club and he has won the title in each of the last three editions of the tournament. However the 35-year-old has lost substantial ground in the conversation surrounding the sport’s all-time greats, after long-standing rival Nadal stormed to a record 22nd Grand Slam triumph last time out at Roland Garros.
2019 Wimbledon Championships.
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Djokovic has hoisted two more Wimbledon titles than all the other 127 seeds combined, and the Serb will be determined to capture the famous golden trophy for a spectacular seventh time. This would take Djokovic to within one of Roger Federer’s record eight victories at SW19, and within one of Nadal’s tally of 22 Grand Slams.
Other than top two seeds Djokovic and Nadal, the rest of the top 10 are all aged 26 or younger, including 19-year-old no.5 seed Carlos Alcaraz. Roland Garros runner-up Casper Ruud (23) is seeded 3rd, Félix Auger-Aliassime (21) 6th, and 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini 8th.
Djokovic may potentially face Alcaraz in the quarter-finals before a prospective meeting with Ruud in the semis, and ultimately Nadal in the grand finale on Centre Court at the end of the fortnight. Standing in between Nadal and a third Wimbledon success could be Auger-Aliassime in the quarters and 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last-four. Tsitsipas and Berrettini are on course to meet in the quarter-finals.
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Nadal, 36, has not played at Wimbledon since 2019 nor has he reached the final since 2011, one year after the Spaniard last clinched the title in London. One of the renowned ‘Big Four’ – Djokovic, Nadal, Federer & Andy Murray – has won every men’s title at Wimbledon since 2003, and Federer will be absent from the Championships for the first time since 1998.
Federer turns 41 in August and has been out of action for the best part of two-and-a-half years due to persistent knee troubles. The 20-time Grand Slam winner has not played since Wimbledon last year, when he lost in the quarter-finals in straight sets to Hubert Hurkacz.
The injury-embattled Swiss maestro has dropped 18 places down to 68th – his lowest ranking since 2000 – and he is all but certain to fall outside the top 100 for the first time in almost a quarter of a century.
(Photo by TPN/Getty Images)
One of the standout matches of the first round sees three-time Slam champion Stan Wawrinka take on 10th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy. Cameron Norrie, a South African-born Briton, is seeded 9th and he goes head-to head with unseeded Pablo Andujar in the opening round.
Notably, in the Women’s draw, Serena Williams will make an awaited comeback from a hamstring injury she sustained at last year’s Championships. Williams received a wild card entry to this year’s tournament and the 40-year-old is on a quest for an eighth Wimbledon coup and a record-equalling 24th major title.
Day 1 starts on Monday and the Men’s singles final will take place on Centre Court on Sunday, July 10th. Prize money this year amounts to a total pot of £40million, a record purse at SW19 and up by 15 per cent compared to last year. The winners of the Men’s and Women’s singles events will pocket £2million apiece, with the runners-up to receive precisely half that amount.
