Wimbledon 2025: It’s Time For The Journey To Begin

Wimbledon
Wimbledon (photo: Florian Goosmann)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, June 27, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

With the draw of the 138th edition of the Wimbledon Championships completed on Friday, it provides everyone – both players and fans – with a roadmap in which to follow along during the upcoming British fortnight. Time to break out the strawberries and cream. Ready, play!

The Championships begin fresh on Monday, June 30 – and like past years, there’s plenty of intrigue and excitement in store. The women’s singles final is Saturday, July 12; the men’s singles final is Sunday, July 13.

Wimbledon is the most prestigious event in professional tennis bar none. It is rich in history and tradition, dating back to 1877 for the men and 1884 for the women. This will be the 57th Wimbledon of the Open Era, which began in 1968, and saw the introduction of prize money for players. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Championships were cancelled in 2020. In 2022, Wimbledon became a 14-day tournament with play added on Middle Sunday, which long had been a day of rest. Meanwhile, the strawberries and cream tradition is ageless – and so are many other traditions, such as players wearing white, the men’s defending champion opening Centre Court on Monday and the defending women’s champion on Tuesday.

This year’s Wimbledon men’s singles draw has World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy as the top seed as he goes for his fourth major crown after winning this year’s Australian Open in January. Two-time defending champion, current World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, is in the opposite half of the draw from Sinner. So, they could only meet in the final – and what an encore it would be following their five-set thriller to decide the title of this year’s Roland-Garros just three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, there was mystery and intrigue surrounding which half of the draw World No. 6 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who has won Wimbledon seven times – most recently in 2022 – would be placed. After all, Djokovic and Alcaraz are no strangers at Wimbledon – having met in the past two finals – with the 22-year-old Spaniard coming out on top to win his first two titles at the All England Club. It was Alcaraz who memorably ended Djokovic’s run of four straight Wimbledon crowns – from 2018-2022 – in an epic five-setter in the 2024 final, before he successfully defended his title a year ago.

While Djokovic gained his revenge by defeating Alcaraz to win the gold medal at last year’s Paris Olympic Games, giving him a 5-3 lead in the career head-to-head, he has plenty to play for in the upcoming British fortnight. After all, he’s bidding for a record 25th major title plus an eighth Wimbledon title, which would tie Roger Federer‘s all-time record. As for Alcaraz, he’s aiming to become the first man since Bjorn Borg as the only men in the Open Era to master the French Open-Wimbledon Championships double in consecutive years.

Alcaraz comes to London SW19 with an 18-match winning streak, having consecutively won titles in Rome, Paris and last Sunday at Queen’s Club, while Djokovic is at his lowest seeding at Wimbledon since 2018. The No. 3 seed is Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 4 seed is British No. 1 Jack Draper, who will be carrying the weight of the United Kingdom on his shoulders each time he steps onto Centre Court.

As it turned out, Djokovic was placed in Sinner’s half of the draw, along with Draper and No. 7 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who was a recent semifinalist at Roland-Garros. The former World No. 1 will open against No. 40 Alexandre Muller of France. Djokovic defeated Sinner in the 2022 quarterfinals and, again, in the 2023 semifinals.

In the bottom half, Alcaraz will be joined by Zverev, No. 5 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States and No. 8 seed Holger Rune of Denmark. Alcaraz will begin his title defense against 38-year-old Fabio Fognini of Italy, ranked 130th, on Monday.

Meanwhile, the women’s top is seed is World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who last year missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury. She will be pushed, no doubt, by World No. 2 Coco Gauff of the United States, who captured the Roland-Garros title – her second major – earlier this month. The No. 3 seed is Jessica Pegula of the United States and No. 4 seed is last year’s finalist Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Last year’s No. 1 seed, Iga Swiatek of Poland, is seeded eighth this year. The defending champion, No. 17 seed Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia, has been slowed this season by a back injury and was forced to withdraw from the Eastbourne grass-court tune-up this week due to a thigh injury. She will open her title defense against 74th-ranked breakout star Alexandra Eala of the Philippines on Tuesday.

If the seeds hold accordingly throughout the fortnight – and that’s always a big if – Sabalenka would face No. 6 seed and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys of the United States in the quarterfinals. Paolini would oppose No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen of China. Pegula would play No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia and Gauff would battle against Swiatek.

While a lot can happen over the next two weeks to bust both the men’s and women’s brackets, for now, Sinner’s path to his first Wimbledon title begins with a first-round match against fellow Italian Luca Nardi, ranked 94th, and could include matchups with: No. 80 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia, No. 27 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada, No. 13 seed Tommy Paul of the United States, Musetti, Zverev and Alcaraz.

As for Sabalenka, her path to a first Wimbledon title begins with a first-round match against 197th-ranked Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine and could include matchups with: No. 46 Lulu Sun of Australia, No. 32 seed McCartney Kessler of the United States, No. 14 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, Keys, Paolini and Gauff.

2025 Wimbledon men’s singles draw

2025 Wimbledon women’s singles draw

Around the All England Club

One of the many traditions at Wimbledon is the defending men’s singles champion opens the tournament with the first match on Centre Court. It’s a custom dating back to 1922 that honors the previous year’s winner and sets the tone for the Championships. Thus, this year, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will open Monday’s play on Centre Court against Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

Monday’s order of play

By the numbers

Roger Federer has won the most Wimbledon men’s singles titles in the Open Era with a total of eight. He won his titles in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2017. Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova has won the most Wimbledon women’s singles titles in the Open Era, with a total of nine championships. She achieved her record between 1978 and 1990, with her title triumphs victories including a streak of six consecutive titles from 1982 to 1987.

”Quotable …”

“We play just two tournaments a year on grass, but I feel great. I don’t think it’s my favorite surface. I think clay is right now. But I feel at home every time I play on grass, so I think it’s a great feeling.”

– Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, during his post-match news conference last Sunday after winning the title at Queen’s Club on grass, asked if grass was becoming his favorite surface.

 

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