Wimbledon Women’s Draw Preview: Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina Top Favorites

The trio of Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have teamed to win the last five Grand Slam titles on the women’s tour.

This new “Big 3” will try to resume their dominance at a place where it’s been tough for any one woman to dominate.

There have been five new champions over the last five Wimbledons and only defending champion Rybakina and 2-time winner Petra Kvitova can break that streak.

Top seeds are: 1 Iga Swiatek, 2 Aryna Sabalenka, 3 Elena Rybakina, 4 Jessica Pegula, 5 Caroline Garcia, 6 Ons Jabeur, 7 Coco Gauff, 8 Maria Sakkari, 9 Petra Kvitova, 10 Barbora Krejcikova, 11 Daria Kasatkina, 12 Veronika Kudermetova, 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia, 14 Belinda Bencic, 15 Liudmila Samsonova, 16 Karolina Muchova.

IGA SWIATEK QUARTER
Seeds: 1 Swiatek, 7 Gauff, 11 Kasatkina, 14 Bencic, 19 Azarenka, 23 Linette, 28 Mertens, 30 Martic
Floaters: Zhu, Collins, Fruhvirtova, Grabher, Trevisan, Svitolina, Kenin, Venus Williams
Notable openers: Iga Swiatek-Lin Zhu, Linda Fruhvirtova-Petra Martic, Danielle Collins-Julia Grabher, Daria Kasatkina-Caroline Dolehide, Venus Williams-Elena Svitolina
Projected 3R matches: 1 Swiatek – 30 Martic, 23 Linette – 14 Bencic, 11 Kasatkina – 19 Azarenka, 28 Mertens – 7 Gauff
Notes: Iga Swiatek won the junior Wimbledon title in 2018, now she’ll look to reach her first quarterfinal on the main stage. The world No. 1 said Saturday that she’s ok after feeling ill in Bad Homburg and in fact her German prep has been good enough. Swiatek could run into Coco Gauff again in the quarterfinals but otherwise there’s little trouble for the star from Poland. Gauff will take on former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in a good Monday opener but all eyes will be on the return of 43-year-old 5-time champion Venus Williams who faces former No. 2 Elina Svitolina.

JESSICA PEGULA QUARTER
Seeds: 4 Pegula, 5 Garcia, 12 Kudermetova, 15 Samsonova, 20 Vekic, 24 Zheng, 31 Sherif, 32 Bouzkova
Floaters: Zhang, Stephens, Parks, Siniakova, Stearns, Bogdan, Masarova, Kontaveit, Fernandez, Kanepi, Volynets
Notable openers: Jessica Pegula-Lauren Davis, Qinwen Zheng-Katerina Siniakova, Veronika Kudermetova-Kaia Kanepi, Marketa Vondrousova-Peyton Stearns, Sloane Stephens-Rebecca Peterson
Projected 3R matches: 4 Pegula – 31 Sherif, 24 Zheng – 15 Samsonova, 12 Kudermetova – 20 Vekic, 32 Bouzkova – 5 Garcia
Notes: An open section with favorite Jessica Pegula not at her best on the grass. That should leave the door open for someone like Donna Vekic, big-hitting Liudmila Samsonova, Veronika Kudermetova or Carolina Garcia.

ELENA RYBAKINA QUARTER
Seeds: 3 Rybakina, 6 Jabeur, 9 Kvitova, 13 Haddad Maia, 17 Ostapenko, 18 Pliskova, 26 Kalinina, 27 Pera
Floaters: Cirstea, Rogers, Andreescu, Putintseva, Maria, Bronzetti, Sasnovich, Cornet, Boulter
Notable openers: Ons Jabeur-Magdalena Frech, Jasmine Paolini-Petra Kvitova, Beatriz Haddad Maia-Yulia Putintseva, Sorana Cirstea-Tatjana Maria, Shelby Rogers-Elena Rybakina
Projected 3R matches: 6 Jabeur – 26 Kalinina, 18 Pliskova – 9 Kvitova, 13 Haddad Maia – 17 Ostapenko, 27 Pera – 3 Rybakina
Notes: It’s no easy road for defending champion Elena Rybakina. The 24-year-old is not only dealing with a ongoing virus, but also a tough draw in the toughest quarter. Rybakina has the upset-minded Shelby Rogers and potentially Alize Cornet who knocked out Swiatek last year, and with Beatriz Haddad Maia and Ons Jabeur later. Also lurking is 2-time champion and recent Berlin winner Petra Kvitova who could face former finalist Karolina Pliskova and then Jabeur.

ARYNA SABALENKA QUARTER
Seeds: 8 Sakkari, 10 Krejcikova, 16 Muchova, 21 Alexandrova, 22 Potapova, 25 Keys, 29 Begu
Floaters: Badosa, Kostyuk, Blinkova, Noskova, Niemeier, Golubic, Watson
Notable openers: Maria Sakkari-Marta Kostyuk, Karolina Muchova-Jule Niemeier, Emma Navarro-Ekaterina Alexandrova
Projected 3R matches: 8 Sakkari – 25 Keys, 22 Potapova – 10 Krejcikova, 16 Muchova – 21 Alexandrova, 29 Begu – 2 Sabalenka
Notes: After banned last year, Aryna Sabalenka returns to a tricky draw at Wimbledon. She’s still the class of the quarter which could see the former semifinalist face the dangerous Camila Giorgi in the second round, Karolina Muchova in the fourth French rematch and either Eastbourne champion Madison Keys or Maria Sakkari in the quarters.

The projected quarterfinals:
1 Swiatek – 7 Gauff
4 Pegula – 5 Garcia
6 Jabeur – 3 Rybakina
8 Sakkari – 2 Sabalenka

The projected R16 looks like:
1 Swiatek – 14 Bencic
11 Kasatkina – 7 Gauff
4 Pegula – 15 Samsonova
12 Kudermetova – 5 Garcia
6 Jabeur – 9 Kvitova
13 Haddad Maia – 3 Rybakina
8 Sakkari – 10 Krejcikova
16 Muchova – 2 Sabalenka

Former champions: Venus Williams (5), Kvitova(2), Rybakina
Former finalists: Jabeur, Pliskova

Last year, (17) Elena Rybakina defeated (3) Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

LAST 10 WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONS/FINALS
2022 Elena Rybakina d Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
2021 Ashleigh Barty d Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3
2019 Simona Halep d Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2
2018 Angelique Kerber d Serena Williams 6-3, 6-3
2017 Garbine Muguruza d Venus Williams 7-5, 6-0
2016 Serena Williams d Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3
2015 Serena Williams d Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4
2014 Petra Kvitova d Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0
2013 Marion Bartoli d Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4
2012 Serena Williams d Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 5-7, 6-2