Leading contenders – Women

IGA SWIATEK

Seeding: 1

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.

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)

ANETT KONTAVEIT

Seeding: 2

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 Cluj- Napoca, 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.

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)

ONS JABEUR

Seeding: 3

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: 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)

PAULA BADOSA

Seeding: 4

Born in 1997 in Manhattan, New York, Paula Badosa began playing tennis at the age of seven after her family returned to Spain. She began her professional career in 2015, after winning the girls’ singles title at the French Open. She impressed during a breakthrough year on the tour in 2018, and has enjoyed a steady rise up the rankings since then. She made her Grand Slam main draw debut at the Australian Open in 2019, before winning her first WTA singles title at the Serbia Open in Belgrade in May 2021. In October last year, she defeated former two-time champion Victoria Azarenka to win the Indian Wells tournament - her first WTA 1000 title. Following this successful run, she made her top 10 debut in November, before qualifying for the 2021 WTA Finals, where she reached the semi-finals. After a slow start to her 2022 season, she claimed her third career title at the Sydney International, and is currently ranked world number 4.

Age: 24 Birthplace: New York, USA Residence: Dubai, UAE Height: 1.8m Plays: Right Handed Turned pro: 2015 Career single titles: 3 Grand slam titles: 0 Career prize money: $4 748 445 Wimbledon Championships played: 2 Best singles performance: 4th round (2021)

MARIA SAKKARI

Seeding: 5

Born in 1995, Maria Sakkari was introduced to tennis at the age of six by her parents. She turned professional in 2015 with her first big breakthrough coming at the 2017 Wuhan Open, where she reached the semi-finals, defeating Caroline Wozniacki en route to claim her first win against a top-10 opponent. She won her first – and so far only – WTA singles title at the 2019 Morocco Open, defeating Johanna Konta in the final. In 2020, she made it through to the fourth round at both the Australian Open and US Open. She reached her first Grand Slam semi-finals in 2021 at the French Open and US Open, where she beat three top 10 seeds before going down to eventual champion Emma Raducanu. When she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world number 3 in March 2022, she became the highest ever ranked Greek woman in the Open Era. Known for her aggressive, all-court style of play, she is currently world number 5.

Age: 26 Birthplace: Athens, Greece Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 1.73m Plays: Right Handed Turned pro: 2015 Career single titles: 1 Grand slam titles: 0 Career prize money: $6 964 545 Wimbledon Championships played: 5 Best singles performance: 3rd round (2017, 2019)

KAROLINA PLISKOVA

Seeding: 6

Former world number 1, Karolina Pliskova is the most experienced of the Wimbledon top seeds. The Czech player, who made her professional debut in 2009, is known for hammering aces and groundstroke winners by the dozen in nearly every match she plays. In 2016, her appearance in her first Grand Slam final at the US Open signalled her arrival on the big stage. Since then, she has been competitive at all the important tournaments, challenging the likes of Serena Williams and Simona Halep on a regular basis. She reached the top of the WTA rankings in July 2017 and held the position for eight weeks. Subsequent years brought mixed results but her fortunes turned around at Wimbledon last year when she reached the final for the first time. Although she was ultimately defeated by Ashleigh Barty, being runnerup returned her to the top 10. Her tally of career singles titles now stands at 16, and she is currently ranked number 7 in the world.

Age: 30 Birthplace: Louny, Czech Republic Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 1.85m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2009 Career single titles: 16 Grand slams titles: 0 Career prize money: $23 538 270 Wimbledon Championships played: 9 Best singles performances: Runner-up (2021)

DANIELLE COLLINS

Seeding: 7

Seventh seed, Danielle Collins is currently ranked world number 8 – a career high. Known for her fearless playing style and strong ground strokes, she played collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia in the United States and won the NCAA singles title twice, in 2014 and 2016. She finished her career at Virginia in 2016 as the top-ranked collegiate player. Having first established herself on the WTA Tour when she reached the semi-finals of the 2018 Miami Open, her breakthrough came at the 2019 Australian Open, where she reached the semi-finals, defeating then world number 2, Angelique Kerber en route. She was also a quarter-finalist at the 2020 French Open. Collins has won two WTA singles titles - the 2021 Palermo Open and the 2021 Stanford Classic. She won the titles back-toback in the July-August period, embarking on a career-best 12-match winning streak during that stretch. She reached her first Grand Slam final at this year’s Australian Open by defeating current world number one, Iga Swiatek in the semi-final.

Age: 28 Birthplace: St Petersburg, Florida, USA Residence: United States of America Height: 1.78m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2016 Career single titles: 2 Grand slams titles: 0 Career prize money: $5 342 389 Wimbledon Championships played: 3 Best singles performances: 3rd round (2019)