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Former world No 1 Iga Swiatek and current world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka are still standing at the ongoing Wimbledon. (PHOTOS: AP)
A lot has been said about the plethora of upsets in the first week of Wimbledon this year. The seeds have tumbled – and many of them top 10 – in the first couple of rounds and the draws have been decimated even before the round of 16 on both sides. But flying under that particular radar, is the fact that for the 8th straight edition a new Women’s Singles champion will be crowned next Saturday.
The tournament originally had former champions like Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova, and a throwback contender in Petra Kvitova, who was the only 2-time winner in the main draw and bid an emotional farewell this year. And of course, there was the defending champion Barbora Krejcikova. But there were early defeats of Rybakina and Krejcikova on Saturday too which officially marked the end of any former winners’ presence. The WTA Tour is known for its unpredictability and nothing illustrates it more than the fact that Wimbledon 2025 will see a new first-time women’s singles champion crowned for the 8th straight time. Whoever takes home the trophy on July 12 will be the ninth woman to do so in the event’s past nine editions.
The plethora of upsets also meant that former world No 1 Iga Swiatek and current world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka are the only two players able to reach the Fourth Round at each of the last four Women’s Singles Grand Slam events according to Opta. The tournament has already lost six of the top-10 seeds: 2 Coco Gauff, 3 Jessica Pegula, 4 Jasmine Paolini, 5 Zheng Qinwen, 6 Madison Keys, 9 Paula Badosa.
Remarkably, among the players still active at Wimbledon this year: Solana Sierra, a lucky loser from the qualifying rounds; 37-year-old Laura Siegemund, oldest player left in the draw; world No 50 and 51 in Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sonay Kartal.
Heartbreak for Krejcikova
Krejcikova lost to No. 10 seed Emma Navarro 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round on Saturday, extending a recent run of one-and-done winners at the All England Club. Czech Krejcikova, seeded 17, led by a set and a break of serve but faded badly and looked physically drained in the final set in which she required treatment from the doctor.
A distressed Krejcikova, who has had a difficult season plagued by a back injury, battled on but appeared to be in tears as she prepared to serve to stay in the tournament at 3-5 in the decider, bravely holding serve to prolong the contest. But Navarro held her nerve to seal victory and ensure that, for the eighth Wimbledon in a row, the women’s singles champion will be a first-time winner. Despite the support of a sympathetic crowd, Krejcikova looked close to collapse at times in the finals stages as her Wimbledon reign came to a bitter end.
Rybakina stunned
Rybakina was sent spinning out of the Wimbledon third round on Saturday, the 11th-seeded Kazakh undone by the irresistible momentum of Denmark’s Clara Tauson. On a blustery Court Two, Tauson – previously winless in three main-draw visits to the All England Club – barely put a toe out of line, breezing through their rain-interrupted duel 7-6(6) 6-3. This was a statement victory for the 22-year-old Dane, seeded 23rd, who at last broke her duck against the 2022 Wimbledon champion after two prior defeats.
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“Grass,” 2022 champion Rybakina said after her third-round exit Saturday, “is very unpredictable.”
Naomi Osaka, a former No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion on the hard courts of the U.S. Open and Australian Open, slipped and hurt her knee nearly a decade ago on grass and that created fear, she said. She has never been past the third round at Wimbledon.
Why are the All England Club’s grass courts so unpredictable? Plenty of top players learned to play tennis on hard courts, especially in North America, or clay courts, especially in Europe and Latin America. Grass? Not so much, except for those from England or Australia. It’s an acquired taste and skill, and it doesn’t help anyone that the portion of the season spent on the turf is so abbreviated. “Usually when I was on grass,” joked Eva Lys, a 23-year-old German who reached the second round at Wimbledon, “it was when I was tanning.” There are more than 35 hard-court tournaments listed on the 2025 WTA calendar, 11 held on clay and seven on grass, which is used from June 9 through Wimbledon.
(With agency inputs)
English (US) ·