wimbledon 2022
8
leading contenders – women IGA SWIATEK
ANETT KONTAVEIT
ONS JABEUR
Born in 2001, Iga Swiatek is currently the world number 1 and the youngest player ranked in the top 10. She began playing regularly on the WTA Tour in 2019, and entered the top 50 at age 18 after her maiden WTA final and a fourth-round appearance at the 2019 French Open. She claimed her first major singles title at the 2020 French Open, becoming the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam. With the title, she also became the youngest singles champion at the tournament since Rafael Nadal in 2005, and the youngest women’s singles champion at a major since Maria Sharapova in 2004. Although she has never progressed past the fourth round at the All England Club, she enters this year’s tournament on the back of a 35-match winning streak, after claiming her second Roland-Garros trophy in early June. The two-time Grand Slam winner has now won her last six events and has not lost a match since mid-February.
Anett Kontaveit has six singles titles to her name and is currently at a career-high ranking of number 2 in the world. Her best Grand Slam performance to date was at the Australian Open in 2020, where she lost to Simona Halep in the quarter-final. Her 2021 was a stellar year, in which she won Cleveland, Ostrava, Moscow, and ClujNapoca, and rose up the rankings to secure herself a place in the WTA Finals. Her qualification saw her become the first Estonian to participate in the year-end championship. A 12-match winning streak was ended in the round-robin stage by Garbine Muguruza, who then went on to beat her in the final. She won her sixth career title by overcoming Maria Sakkari in St Petersburg in February this year extending her indoor winning streak to 20 matches, the best by any woman since Justine Henin in 2010. She has had limited success at Wimbledon, and has never made it past the third round.
Born in 1994, Ons Jabeur was first introduced to tennis at the age of three by her mother. Her professional career began with two junior major singles finals at the French Open in 2010 and 2011, with her winning the latter. At the 2020 Australian Open she became the first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, a feat she repeated at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. She then became the first Arab woman to win a WTA Tour title when she lifted the trophy at the 2021 Birmingham Classic. At the 2022 Italian Open she reached her second consecutive WTA 1000 final, defeating fourth seed Maria Sakkari among others, before saving a match point in the semifinals against Daria Kasatkina for her 11th straight win. On June 20, a week before the start of Wimbledon, she won the Berlin title and became the new world number 3 – making her the highest-ranked Arab and African tennis player in ATP and WTA rankings history.
Age: 21 Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland Residence: Raszyn, Poland Height: 1.75m Plays: Right Handed Turned pro: 2016 Career single titles: 9 Grand slam titles: 2 Career prize money: $11 256 371 Wimbledon Championships played: 2 Best singles performance: 4th round (2021)
Age: 26 Birthplace: Tallinn, Estonia Residence: Viimsi, Estonia Height: 1.75m Plays: Right Handed Turned pro: 2010 Career single titles: 6 Grand slam titles: 0 Career prize money: $7 464 976 Wimbledon Championships played: 7 Best singles performance: 3rd round (2017, 2018, 2019)
Age: 27 Birthplace: Ksar El Hellar, Tunisia Residence: Tunis, Tunisia Height: 1.68m Plays: Right handed Turned pro: 2010 Career single titles: 3 Grand slam titles: 0 Career prize money: $6 239 483 Wimbledon Championships played: 4 Best singles performance: Quarter-final (2021)
Seeding: 1
Seeding: 2
Seeding: 3
