Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Green days are here.
Several high seeds—and powerful dark horses—can bloom in the Wimbledon ladies' draw.
The Championships conducted the 2025 Wimbledon draws today.
Here are our top takeaways from the Wimbledon ladies’ draw.
See the Wimbledon Ladies' Main Draw Here.
Aryna Sabalenka: Title Time or Self Sabotage?
The world No. 1 tops the draw in talent and intrigue.
Aryna Sabalenka could blow through the field or blow herself up in her quest for a maiden Wimbledon crown.
Watching Sabalenka in Slams, it seems she sometimes wants to win so badly she sometimes struggles to get out of her own way and let her best tennis flow. If can do that, she can certainly raise the Rosewater Dish.
In fact, if you think about it, Sabalenka could be halfway to a calendar Grand Slam today—if not for Madison Keys in Melbourne and Coco Gauf in Paris shattering her dreams.
Here’s why Sabalenka remains the favorite at SW19: She’s reached semifinals or better in nine of her last 10 Slam appearances and she’s completely capable of disarming any opponent when she’s on her game.
The big-hitting Belarusian has only played Wimbledon twice in the last five years, but she’s reached the semifinals on both occasions. At the 2023 Wimbledon, Sabalenka conquered Keys in the quarters before falling to Ons Jabeur, 7-6(5), 4-6, 3-6. At the 2021 Championships, Sabalenka beat Elena Rybakina and Jabeur in succession before bowing to Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 4-6, 4-6.
So in her last two appearances, she was one set from the Wimbledon final but failed to close.
It stands to reason, the 2025 WTA wins leader is a much more confident and commanding champion now—and theoretically should be hungry given her 70-unforced error meltdown in the Roland Garros final—yet Sabalenka being Sabalenka we could see an explosive or enigmatic performance in London.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka has contested finals in five of her last seven tournaments. Sabalenka, who faces Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine in the first round, could meet 2024 Wimbledon Cinderella quarterfinalist Lulu Sun in the second round with a possible third-round clash vs. the 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the third round.
The left-handed Vondrousova swept Sabalenka, 6-2, 6-4 on Berlin's grass last week to win her first Tour-level title since her inspired Wimbledon title run. In that match, Sabalenka was scarred by Vondrousova’s skill mixing in slices and drop shots, denying the bigger hitter pace and dragging her forward.
If Sabalenka does face Vondrousova again she must keep calm, be quick off the mark when the soft stuff comes and try to blast some deep returns right down the middle to deny the Czech angles to work with rather than teeing off down the line as she’s prone to do when things get tight.
View this post on Instagram
Should seeds hold true to form, Sabalenka would face sixth-seeded Madison Keys in the quarterfinals six months after the hard-hitting American stunned her in the Australian Open final.
Still, Sabalenka is a clear favorite and should at least make another final four run.
Coco Gauff’s Grass Proving Ground
Coco Gauff gained glory in Paris and faces gory draw in London.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Gauff opens against hard-hitting Dayana Yastremska with a possible third-round clash vs. former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who knocked her out of the 2023 Wimbledon.
No. 19-seeded Liudmila Samsonova, a two-time grass-court champion with a big serve and blistering forehand, could face Gauff in the round of 16 with either former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek or 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina looming as a possible quarterfinal opponent.
The reigning Roland Garros champion is one of the game’s fiercest fighters, who brings her best in Slams. Yet, Gauff’s extreme western grip can be challenged by the low ball on lawn. Wimbledon is the only Slam where Gauff has yet to reach at least the semifinals.
When matches get tight in other majors, Gauff can rely on two of her biggest weapons—blinding court coverage and battle-tested competitive spirit—to drop back behind the baseline, put one more ball back in play and grind opponents. That formula likely won’t work as well at Wimbledon.
Remember, Gauff has had a very brief turnaround time adjusting from red clay to grass. She lost her lone grass-court match last week. That transition challenge and her draw presents some major roadblocks.
“You really only have a week to really get used to the grass and practice,” 18-time Grand Slam champion and ESPN analyst Chrissie Evert told the media this week on an ESPN conference call. “Then you play one tournament. Those two surfaces, red clay and grass, are polar opposites, and you need to make a lot of adjustments.
"The court is different. Your positioning is different. You've got to shorten your strokes. You've got to always be moving into the net if you can. There are just so many things different in the clay that you have to think of and make adjustments.
“It's too bad that those three are in three months. It's too bad. It really is, because it would be nicer to give the players a little more leeway and a little more time to get used to the surfaces in a more relaxed environment. That's not the way it is, and that won't change.”
Will Wimbledon’s Changing of Champions Continue?
Former Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras famously called Centre Court Wimbledon “a tennis cathedral.”
Winners haven’t been worshiped by opponents in title defenses.
Since Serena Williams successfully defended Wimbledon in 2017 with her seventh Rosewater Dish, we’ve seen seven different women win the last seven Wimbledon championships.
That magnificent seven—Garbine Muguruza (2017), Angelique Kerber (2018), Simona Halep (2019), Ash Barty (2021), Elena Rybakina (2022), Marketa Vondrousova (2023) and Barbora Krejcikova (2024)—possess different skill sets with a common connection. Each one of them could change direction down the line, which is essential at Wimbledon where stopping and coming out of the corners on the sometimes slick corners can feel as easy as sprinting on ice.
Will we see an eighth different woman win Wimbledon this year?
Yes, I believe we will.
“We didn't train like Olympic athletes back 40, 50 years ago. We trained like tennis players. Nowadays they train like Olympic athletes,” Hall of Famer Chrissie Evert told the media in an ESPN conference call to promote the network’s Wimbledon coverage starting Monday at 6 a.m. “The coaching teams of having four or five different people with their different abilities and, you know, to help the players with their longevity. Now the players are playing 20 — they're having 20-year careers, where in our days they were retiring late 20s, early 30s.
“So much has changed, but I think just the fact that the depth is there 100 times more than it was in my day. That's why for me it's harder for anyone to win a major. Especially to win two or three majors in one year, that's almost impossible.”
The last woman to win Wimbledon without surrendering a set was Marion Bartoli back in 2013. Given the depth in this field it’s tough to imagine anyone—even Sabalenka—take the title sweeping through 14 consecutive sets though we shall see.
Dark Horses
We are defining dark horses as women seeded outside of the Top 10.
No. 11 Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
The 2022 Wimbledon champion can dictate play on serve, push opponents around with her crackling backhand and is comfortable on lawn. Since her 2022 title run, Rybakina reached the 2023 quarterfinals and 2024 semifinals. Should seeds hold true to form, Rybakina would face 23rd-seeded Clara Tauson in the third round, former No. 1 Iga Swiatek i n the fourth round and Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. Obviously a challenging draw, but she’s capable of beating all of those opponents on grass if she’s healthy and her head is clear.
No. 13 Amanda Anisimova (USA)
If she can survive the tricky and possibly contentious clash vs. Yulia Putintseva in round one, Anisimova has the power, the flat strikes and down the line drives that play well on grass. She showed all of that reaching the Queen’s Club final earlier this month. The question is: Can Anisimova adapt to players who can shift spins and speeds and take her to uncomfortable places on court? In her last SW19 appearance, Anisimova advanced to the quarterfinals back in 2022. In her seven Slam appearances since, she’s yet to surpass the fourth round of any major.
No. 30 Linda Noskova (CZE)
The 20-year-old Noskova already owns nine career Top 10 victories, including toppling Indian Wells champion Mirra Andreeva in Bad Homburg this week. Though Noskova basically has one gear to her game—flat and hard drives off both wings—that plays well on lawn. Noskova famously toppled No. 1 Iga Swiatek en route to the 2024 Australian Open quarterfinals.
First-Round Matches to Watch
No. 9 Paula Badosa (ESP) v. Katie Boulter (GBR) Head-to-head: Badosa leads 1-0
Despite battling chronic back issues, pure ball striker Badosa is dangerous on grass where she’s reached the fourth round in three of her last four Wimbledon appearances. Badosa beat Coco Gauff en route to her maiden major semifinal at the Australian Open in January. Boulter, who enjoys huge crowd support at her home Slam, has not lost a Wimbledon first-round match since her 2017 debut.
View this post on Instagram
No. 13 Amanda Anisimova (USA) v. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) Head-to-head: Anisimova leads 3-1
Powered by one of the boldest backhands in the game, Anisimova is the bigger hitter, but the crafty Putintseva plays with more variety—and is adept at annoying the hell out of opponents (see her combustible clash vs. Maria Sakkari this month). Both have had some grass-court success: Anisimova reached the Queen’s Club final this month falling to slice artist Tatjana Maria, while Putintseva toppled Angelie Kerber, Katerina Siniakova and then NO. 1 Iga Swiatek en route to the 2024 Wimbledon fourth round. Putintseva’s lone win over Anisimova came at the 2023 US Open.
No. 17 Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) v. Alexandra Eala (PHI) Head-to-head: First Meeting
Barbora Krejcikova applied her all-court skills out-dueling Jasmine PaoIini in three sets to become the second straight Czech to win Wimbledon last July. Facing talented left-hander Eala is a dangerous test vs. an in-form player. The 20-year-old Eala can take the ball on the rise, rip returns down the line, is quick around the court and carries the confidence that comes from reaching the Eastbourne final this week.
No. 10 Emma Navarro (USA) v. WC Petra Kvitova (CZE) Head-to-head: First Meeting
Fourteen years after raising the Rosewater Dish for the first time, the 35-year-old Kvitova returns for her Wimbledon farewell. The 2024 US Open semifinalist Navarro, a smooth mover, has reached quarterfinals or better in three of her last four major appearances and will be eager following a French Open first-round exit.
No. 5 Zheng Qinwen (CHN) v. Katerina Siniakova (CZE) Head-to-head: Siniakova leads 2-1
A golden first rounder: Zheng is reigning Olympic singles gold medal champion, while Siniakova won Olympic gold in Mixed Doubles last August. Both women will play for the lines, but Siniakova has won both of their prior grass-court clashes. Siniakova beat Zheng 6-3, 7-5 in the 2023 Wimbledon first round then beat her again on Berlin’s lawn last June. Zheng has failed to survive the first round in two of her three career SW19 appearances.