After the conclusion of the clay season at Roland Garros, the focus turns to the most widely anticipated grand slam of the year, Wimbledon. The 2022 championships at the All England Club will be slightly different this year, with no ranking points on offer after Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarussian players from participating due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Although top stars like world number one Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, and Roger Federer won’t be present at these championships, there are still plenty of big names set to take centre court. Rafael Nadal returns to Wimbledon for the first time since 2019, while Serena Williams makes her comeback in the sport after spending 12 months on the sidelines.
While the respective world number one’s – Djokovic and Swiatek – are the favourites to take the crowns this year at Wimbledon, anything can happen on the grass courts of SW19.
Here is our 2022 Wimbledon Preview.
More history beckons for Rafael Nadal
After winning the 2022 French and Australian Opens, Rafael Nadal has the opportunity to win the first three majors in a calendar year for the first time in his career at Wimbledon. After winning at Roland Garros, the Spaniard was unsure whether he could deal with the pain again to play the grass season, but having arrived at the All England Club, Nadal will be a major contender to reach the final.
View this post on Instagram
Nadal has the opportunity to equal Serena Williams’ record of 23 Grand Slams, pushing him to number two on the all-time list for male and female athletes behind Margaret Court on 24. Nadal hasn’t won at Wimbledon since his victory over Tomas Berdych in the 2010 Finals, but the Spaniard is playing some of the best tennis of his career at the moment and has a less tricky route to the finals as the number two seed. The 22-time Grand Slam winner has a 30-3 record in 2022 and is expected to play only one top-ten ranked player – Felix Auger Aliassime – before the semi-finals.
Major number 21 for Novak Djokovic?
Despite not playing the Australian Open and losing to Rafael Nadal at the 2022 French Open, Novak Djokovic enters Wimbledon as the favourite to take home the championship. Djokovic has won the last three titles at Wimbledon and starts off the 2022 Championships with an easy first-round draw versus Soonwoo Kwon. The only major stumbling block for Djokovic on his route to the final is a potential quarter-final draw against the fifth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz. The 19-year-old Spaniard has two ATP Masters 1000 titles to his name and has risen his game to a different level in 2022.
View this post on Instagram
Apart from Rafael Nadal, the biggest threat to Djokovic’s continued dominance at SW19 is Matteo Berrettini. The Italian lost to Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon last year but is currently 9-0 in the grass season in 2022 and has already won the Queens Club Championships and the Stuttgart Open in the lead up to the tournament.
Can anyone stop Iga Swiatek in the Ladies Singles?
After last year’s winner Ash Barty announced her shock retirement earlier this year, there will be a new winner of the Ladies Singles in 2022. World Number one Iga Swiatek is the favourite to win the title after her dominant display at Roland Garros last month, but the Pole’s playing style is not completely suited to grass courts.
View this post on Instagram
The 21-year-old has just a 50% win record on grass in her career and could be tested to her limits at Wimbledon. Other players to watch out for at Wimbledon are wildcard entry Serena Williams and home favourite Emma Raducanu, who announced her arrival on the big stage during last year’s Wimbledon, making it to the fourth round.
Shivaan Shah