Wimbledon: Women’s Preview, By the Numbers

Also read: Wimbledon: Men’s Preview, By the Numbers

Seeds blooming 

Two players are seeded for the first time at a major in the women’s side – No.20 seed Maja Chwalinksa and No.29 seed Alexandra Eala. 

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Slamming Field 

There are 13 former Grand Slam champions in the women’s singles draw. 

Serena’s Back 

44-year-old Serena Williams will become the fourth-oldest player to appear in a Women’s Singles Grand Slam main draw in the Open Era and the second-oldest in Wimbledon (younger only than Martina Navratilova in 2004. 

In 2017, Serena became the oldest woman to win a major singles title when she won the Australian Open at the age of 35. Ten years, in 2016, ago she became the oldest woman to ever win a Wimbledon women’s singles title at the age of 34.

Williams owns a 98-14 lifetime record at Wimbledon and will be making her 22nd career appearance at the Championships. 

Teen Spirit 

There are nine teenagers in this year’s Wimbledon women’s singles draw. The last teenager to win the title at Wimbledon was Maria Sharapova in 2004. 

Teenagers in Wimbledon DrawAge
Hannah Klugman17 years, 144 days
Mika Stojsavljevic17 years, 209 days
Tyra Caterina Grant18 years, 122 days
Lilli Tagger18 years, 146 days
Iva Jovic18 years, 219 days
Mimi Xu18 years, 284 days
Teodora Kostovic19 years, 14 days
Alina Korneeva19 years, 19 days
Mirra Andreeva19 years, 74 days

The last teenager to win a major was Mirra Andreeva, earlier this month at Roland Garros. 

Debutantes Everywhere 

27 players will be making their Wimbledon main draw debut this year. 

2026 Wimbledon Main Draw Debutantes

  • Nikola Bartunkova
  • Sara Bejlek
  • Lois Boisson
  • Mariam Bolkvadze
  • Kayla Day
  • Anastasia Gasanova
  • Leolia Jeanjean
  • Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva
  • Alina Korneeva
  • Sinja Kraus
  • Petra Marcinko
  • Oleksandra Oliynykova
  • Antonia Ruzic
  • Mananchaya Sawangkaew
  • Oksana Selekhmeteva
  • Iryna Shymanovich
  • Lilli Tagger
  • Lanlana Tararudee
  • Janice Tjen
  • Maria Timofeeva
  • Tereza Valentova
  • Hanne Vandewinkel

2026 Grand Slam Main Draw Debutantes

  • Alicia Dudeney
  • Lina Gjorcheska
  • Tyra Caterina Grant
  • Teodora Kostovic
  • Darja Vidmanova

Shock to the Defender?

Defending women’s singles champions have twice been eliminated in the first round of their title defense – in 1994 Steffi Graf lost to Lori McNeil and in 2024 Marketa Vondrousova lost to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

2025 champion Iga Swiatek will face Taylor Townsend in round one.

Sabalenka Running the Table?

Aryna Sabalenka will have completed 90 consecutive weeks at the top of the WTA’s rankings after Wimbledon. That is the seventh-longest streak of all-time, and if she finishes Wimbledon at No.1 she’ll tie Monica Seles (91) for the sixth-longest streak of consecutive weeks at No.1.

LONGEST STREAKS OF CONSECUTIVE WEEKS AT NO.1 WTA HISTORY

RankWeeksPlayerDates
1186Stefanie GrafAug 17, 1987 – Mar 10, 1991
1186Serena WilliamsFeb 18, 2013 – Sep 12, 2016
3156Martina NavratilovaJun 14, 1982 – Jun 9, 1985
4114Ashleigh BartySep 9, 2019 – Apr 3, 2022
5113Chris EvertMay 10, 1976 – Jul 9, 1978
691Monica SelesSep 9, 1991 – Jun 6, 1993
790Martina NavratilovaNov 25, 1985 – Aug 16, 1987
889/90Aryna SabalenkaOct 21, 2024 – present

But will she remain there? Elena Rybakina has a shot to capture the tour’s top ranking for the first time this year at Wimbledon. 

Here are the scenarios: 

The WTA World No1. ranking will be on the line at Wimbledon as Elena Rybakina has a chance to overtake Sabalenka.  

  • Rybakina will need to reach the QF to have a chance at moving to No.1 
  • If Sabalenka reaches the R16 or QF then Rybakina will need at least SF 
  • If Sabalenka reaches SF, Rybakina would need to reach the final 
  • If Sabalenka vs. Rybakina meet in final then winner will take be No.1 

367 and counting

Serena Williams, who faces Maya Joint in the first round, leads all women with 367 Grand Slam singles match wins.

Slam Wins, all-timeplayerw-l
1Serena Williams367-56
2Martina Navratilova306-49
3Chris Evert299-37
4Steffi Graf278-32
5Venus Williams271-87
6Arantxa Sánchez Vicario210-54

No Time like First Time

Since Serena Williams won her seventh singles title in 2016, all women’s singles champions at SW19 have been first-time Wimbledon champions.

YearChampion
2025Iga Swiatek
2024Barbora Krejcikova
2023Marketa Vondrousova
2022Elena Rybakina
2021Ashleigh Barty
2019Simona Halep
2018Angelique Kerber
2017Garbiñe Muguruza

Stats: courtesty of WTA and Performs

Chris Oddo is a freelance sportswriter, podcaster, blogger and social media marker who is a lead contributor to Tennisnow.com. He also writes for USOpen.org, Rolandgarros.com, BNPParibasOpen.com, TennisTV.com, WTAtennis.com and the official US Open program.

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