By Chris Oddo | Friday June 29, 2018
Garbine Muguruza lands in the stacked top half of the Wimbledon draw, where danger lurks--see our draw winners and losers here.
Photo Source: CameraSport
All eyes were on the Wimbledon draw ceremony this morning in London, and now that the 128-player field has been set, we take a look at the early draw winners and losers. (scroll down a bit for full draw)
Winner: Serena Williams
The seven-time champ, seeded 25, gets a nice break by avoiding the half of the draw that features top seed Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza and Petra Kvitova. That’s a giant win for Williams, who opens with Arantxa Rus and is slated to face No.5-seeded Elina Svitolina in the third round. Williams could face either No.19-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova or No.10-seeded Madison Keys in the round of 16, and would face No.2-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals if the seeds hold.
Loser: Jelena Ostapenko
The Latvian was a quarterfinalist last year at Wimbledon, but to reach that round again this year she’ll have to likely get by tricky grass-courter Kirsten Flipkens in the second round, Maria Sharapova in the third round, and Petra Kvitova in the round of 16. Being in the loaded top half of the women’s singles draw is not a great draw for anyone, but for Ostapenko it’s particularly unenviable.
Winner: Agnieszka Radwanska
The former finalist is back in action after overcoming injuries that sidelined her over the last two months. Her draw is by no means simple, but opening with Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse and then potentially meeting No.2-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the third round isn’t too shabby. Radwanska has made the second week at Wimbledon in each of the last six years; not so for Wozniacki, who has never been past the round of 16 at SW19.
Loser: Karolina Pliskova
Somebody had to draw unseeded Victoria Azarenka early, and it turns out that Pliskova gets the shorts straw and could face the Belarussian in round two. Azarenka has not been in the best form of late, but she owns a 3-2 lifetime record over Pliskova and is always dangerous at Wimbledon, where she owns a 29-10 lifetime record.
If Pliskova, seeded 7, manages to get past Azarenka, she is slated to face the rising Mihaela Buzarnescu in the third round and last year’s runner-up Venus Williams in the round of 16.
Loser: Elina Svitolina
It’s been 23 Grand Slams without a semifinal appearance for Elina Svitolina, and if she is going to make it on her 24th appearance she’ll need to play some really special tennis. Svitolina opens with Tatjana Maria of Germany who is fresh off her first career title at Mallorca, then could face a very good grass-courter in Kristina Mladenovic. Should the No.5 seed pass those first two sets, Serena Williams awaits. The one thing every top eight seed wanted to avoid is having to face the seven-time champion in the third round. The draw gods were not kind to Svitolina and she has her work cut out for her.
Winner: Sloane Stephens
Sticking with the theme that its better to be in the lower half of the women’s singles draw we move to fourth-seeded Stephens, who was able to avoid Serena Williams’ quarter and can’t face anybody seeded higher than Julia Goerges (13) before the quarterfinals. It’s not super simple, as Stephens has to face Donna Vekic in the first round—Stephens won their only meeting in three sets in Strasbourg (clay) in 2016.
Winner: Garbiñe Muguruza
Muguruza is in the stacked top half, but at least she was able to slip into the quarter that doesn’t have Petra Kvitova. Nobody wants to face Kvitova right now--or ever--at Wimbledon.