Game, set, match! Wimbledon has arrived

The Wimbledon Championship has a long illustrious history dating all the way back to the first Championship in 1877. A tournament rooted in tradition; it is one of the most iconic competitions in the world. The classic contrast of the player’s all white clothing against the perfectly cut English green grass is an instantly recognisable image.

Once more in 2022 an excited buzz is starting to take over the famous SW19 postcode of the South English venue where tennis fans from around the world are arriving to see some of the greatest players in the world don their brightest whites to battle it out in the third Grand Slam of the year. Let’s take a look at what to expect.

Firstly, for the Men’s singles tournament the seeds have been revealed and many fans are happy to see Rafael Nadal’s name included after his stellar year, in which he has tasted victory in the French and Australian opens. This has led him to become the male player with the most Grand Slam victories in the Open era, all whilst suffering from a chronic foot injury that cast doubt over whether he would be able to continue his campaign at Wimbledon.

However, we are glad to hear he is the second seed and will be tucking into some strawberries and cream shortly!

Where Nadal goes his closest rivals are sure to follow. The trio of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic has given us the joy of witnessing the best and most competitive tennis era of all time and it is hard to imagine one without the others. Unfortunately, due to a knee injury this will be the first year since 1998 that Federer will not be taking to the grass court. But all hope is not lost as we have Djokovic as the number one seed in this year’s Wimbledon to whet our appetite. Can he make it his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title in a row and bring him one closer to Nadal in the history books?

Beyond this famous rivalry there is, of course, lots of new blood taking the tennis world by storm. However, the number 1 and 2 world ranked players won’t be in this year’s Wimbledon after the top ranked Medvedev hasn’t been allowed to play after the All-England Club decided to ban Russian and Belarusian players due to the current invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the world no. 2 has withdrawn after tearing three ligaments in his leg at the Roland Garros semi-final against Nadal.

Last year the Italian Berrettini made it to the final against Djokovic and is coming into the competition after wins at Stuttgart Open and the Queen’s Club Championships, showing his form on the grass court is one to be reckoned with once more.

Furthermore, Andy Murray is always a crowd favourite at Wimbledon and a two times champion of the tournament. The joke often goes that Murray is called British when he wins and Scottish when he loses. The Scotsman is still leaving people in suspense as he fights against injury to be able to compete on home turf after he suffered an abdominal injury in the Stuttgart final on 12th June.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams currently holds the most Grand Slam titles of any player in the Open era and is a celebrity outside of the tennis world. However, after having to retire from Wimbledon in 2021 due to an injury she shot down to world no. 276 in the rankings due to lack of play leaving her outside of automatic qualification. She has stolen the headlines once more as thanks to being granted a wild card she will be back to prove that at 40 years old she still has what it takes.

Be that as it may, the force to be reckoned with at this year’s Wimbledon is Polish player Iga Świątek, who is this year’s number 1 seed and top world ranked. She is fresh off the back of a win at this year’s French Open and has been unbeatable the last four months (for 35 matches to be exact).

The home crowd don’t just have Andy Murray to cheer for this year as the Brit Emma Raducanu is seeded 11th in this year’s tournament. She took the world by storm after winning the US Open when she had only entered through qualifying as she wasn’t even in the top 100 world ranking. Will the crowds be cheering once more or will the pressure get to her?

There will also be the doubles competition, juniors and wheelchair the two weeks so get ready for an action-packed week! Let’s hope the sun shines and British weather is kind.