Wimbledon 2026: It's Time For The Journey To Begin

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, June 26, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Friday’s draw for the 139th edition of the Wimbledon Championships provides players and fans alike with a roadmap to follow along the during upcoming British fortnight. It’s time to break out the strawberries and cream and enjoy a Pimm’s Cup as play in London’s SW19 commences. Ready, play!

The Championships begin fresh on Monday, June 29 – and like past years, there’s plenty of intrigue and excitement that will unwind over the next two weeks. The women’s singles final is scheduled for July 11, while the men’s singles final will take place on July 12.

Wimbledon is the most prestigious event in professional tennis bar none. It is rich in history and tradition, dating back to 1877 for the men and 1884 for the women. This will be the 58th Wimbledon of the Open Era, which began in 1968 when Rod Laver defeated fellow Australian Tony Roche, and saw the introduction of prize money for players.

The total prize money pool for this year’s Wimbledon is a record £64.2 million, which represents a 20 percent increase from last year. The Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ singles champions will each receive a payout of £3.6 million.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Championships were cancelled in 2020. Two years later, in 2022, Wimbledon became a 14-day tournament with play added on Middle Sunday, which long had been a day of rest. Unlike the other three majors, Wimbledon has resisted adding a 15th day and an early Sunday start.

The traditions of Wimbledon, such as strawberries and cream and players wearing white – as well as the men’s defending champion opening Centre Court on Monday at 1:30 p.m. sharp and the defending women’s champion on Tuesday, also at 1:30 p.m. – are plenty. There’s even an 11 p.m. nightly curfew for matches on Centre Court and No. 1 Court. With no lights on the outside courts, play will last as long as there is daylight. Thus, there will be no late night finishes as have become customary at the other Grand Slams.

This year’s Wimbledon men’s singles draw has World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy as the top seed as he goes for his fifth major crown – and first since winning the 2025 Wimbledon title. Current World No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who earlier this month won his first major title at Roland-Garros, is seeded No. 2 in lieu of the absence of two-time Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who will miss his second-straight Grand Slam due to a wrist injury.

Meanwhile, there was some mystery and intrigue surrounding which half of the draw World No. 8 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the 24-time major titlist and winner of seven Wimbledon crowns – most recently in 2022 – would be placed. After all, the 39-year-old Djokovic is no stranger to the All England Club and he would love nothing better than to win a 25th career Grand Slam at Wimbledon. Should he win the Wimbledon Championships for an eighth time, he would tie Roger Federer‘s all-time record.

The remaining top eight men’s seeds include: No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, No. 4 Ben Shelton of the United States, No. 5 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 6 Taylor Fritz of the United States, No. 7 Djokovic, and No. 8 Daniil Medvedev of Russia. There are a total of 32 seeded players. It takes seven straight wins to capture the Wimbledon title.

As it turned out, Djokovic was placed in the upper half of the draw, along with Sinner, Auger-Aliassime and Medvedev. He will open against No. 99 Wu Yibing of China.

In the bottom half, Zverev will be joined by Shelton, de Minaur and Fritz.

World No. 1 Sabalenka is women’s top seed

The women’s top seed is World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, whose last two losses – at Roland-Garros and Berlin – have both been by bagel scores in the final set. She will be pushed, no doubt, by World No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan – the 2022 Wimbledon titlist – and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland, who will be seeded third. Sabalenka is still in search of her first Wimbledon title.

The other top eight seeds among the women include: No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 5 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of the United States, No. 7 Coco Gauff of the United States and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

The biggest intrigue in this year’s draw – women or men – is the return of 44-year-old Serena Williams of the United States. Last Sunday, the 23-time Grand Slam champion – and winner of seven Wimbledon singles titles – accepted a much-anticipated wild card into the singles draw.

Williams last played at the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia. Now unranked and with a wild card entry into the main draw, Williams will open against 53rd-ranked Maya Joint of Australia, who has struggled to win this year. The 20-year-old Joint, who grew up in the state of Michigan in the United States, is 3-15 in all competitions (2-13 in WTA Tour events) and comes in on an 11-match losing streak. She won the Eastbourne grass tune-up a year ago.

Serena and older sister, Venus Williams, will also be featured together in the women’s doubles draw after earlier being awarded a wild card.

Also, Roland-Garros finalist Maja Chwalinska of Poland, who went from qualifier to runner-up and rose in the rankings into the Top 25, will be seeded at Wimbledon (No. 20) after receiving a wild card.

The path to another Wimbledon title for Sinner, Swiatek

While a lot can happen over the next two weeks to bust both the men’s and women’s brackets, for now, Sinner’s path to repeating his 2025 Wimbledon title begins with a first-round match against No. 51 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia Monday afternoon on Centre Court. Later, he could face No. 53 Nuno Borges of Portugal in the second round, No. 31 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru in the third round, No. 14 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy or No. 23 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain in the fourth round, No. 8 seed Medvedev in the quarterfinals and No. 3 seed Auger-Aliassime or No. 7 seed Djokovic in the semifinals.

As for the women’s defending champion, Swiatek, she begins with a first-round match against No. 81 Taylor Townsend of the United States on Tuesday, and could include matchups against former 74th-ranked Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova of Czechia in the second round, No. 29 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines or unranked Serena Williams in the third round, No. 13 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the fourth round, No. 8 seed Svitolina in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Rybakina in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2025, will start with Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic in the first round.

Wimbledon men’s singles draw

Wimbledon women’s singles draw

By the numbers

According to Matt Roberts of The Tennis Podcast, while much has been made of Poland’s Maja Chwalinska receiving a Wimbledon wild card and being seeded, all at the same, it’s happened twice before at the Grand Slams during the Open Era. While Chwalinska is the only one who didn’t have the required ranking at the entry deadline – about six weeks before the start of the tournament – the other two were injury related.

At the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, Patty Schnyder of Switzerland was given a wild card and was then seeded No. 15. After being an Australian Open semifinalist, she suffered some injuries and original chose not to enter Wimbledon but later changed her mind and asked for a wild card. She lost in the second round.

Also, at the 2002 US Open, Martina Hingis was seeded No. 9 after receiving a wild card. Earlier that year, Hingis had surgery in May to repair a torn ligament and three loose ligaments in her left ankle and was expected to miss four months. However, she made a quicker than expected recovery after surgery and made her return in Montreal. She went on to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

“Quotable …”

“It is great, especially for Max. I was so, so pumped for him to get that win today. Billy as well. Two really, really great guys and they both deserve it. Billy and Max both work really hard and I would like to say the same for myself. It is just great that you see your mates do well at the same time as you.

“When I came off my match, I watched a bit of Max’s match afterwards. I know he has had a difficult time with injuries. I feel it makes it more special when you have those setbacks.

“What the LTA is doing is great and breeding success and great that we have three guys through for the first time since 1999. It is great.”

– Oliver Tarvet of Great Britain, during his post-match news conference Thursday as quoted by the Wimbledon website, after being one of three British men to qualify for the singles main draw.

Wimbledon 2026: It’s Time For The Journey To Begin

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