Venus Williams starts her 24th appearance at Wimbledon against Elina Svitolina
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams begins her 24th appearance at the tournament against 2019 semi-finalist Elina Svitolina, while Friday’s draw pits two-time titulist Andy Murray against wild card entry Ryan Peniston in an all-British first round.
Williams, who is 43 and has played just five games this season, and Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after taking time off to have a baby, both received wildcards from the All England Club.
Whoever wins that match could face No. 28 seed Elise Mertens in the second round, perhaps followed by a match against No. 7 Coco Gauff, the American who was just 15 when she began her Grand Slam career by knocking out Williams. switching at Wimbledon in 2019.
Williams won Wimbledon in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008, along with two US Open trophies.
Audible sobs filled the main interrogation room at the All England Club where the draw took place as Murray – who has undergone hip surgery twice since winning Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 – was lured to face a fellow British player, and moments later when the winner of that match would face either No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, twice a grand finalist, or 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem.
Murray’s first Wimbledon title made him the first British man in 77 years to win the singles title there.
Play at the third Grand Slam tournament of the year begins Monday, when No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic opens his bid for a fifth consecutive championship – and eighth overall – at the All England Club against Pedro Cachin, a 67th-ranked Argentine who has lost his Wimbledon debut. Djokovic, who is halfway through a calendar year Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open in January and the French Open in June, is also seeking his 24th major title, which would set the record for most by a man or woman in the Open Era.
The player who beat Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, Nick Kyrgios, number 30, will face David Goffin on Monday. Goffin is a two-time quarterfinalist at the All England Club and is ranked seventh. Kyrgios could face Rublev in the third round and Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
No. 11 Felix Auger-Aliassime will open his tournament against Filip Krajinović of Serbia, while Milos Raonic will play Austria’s Dennis Novak and Denis Shapovalov will take on Radu Albot’s Moldon to round out the Canadian men’s singles action.
Possible women’s quarterfinals are No. 1 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Gauff, and No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 5 Caroline Garcia on the top half, and No. 3 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 6 Ons Jabeur and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 8 Maria Sakkari on the bottom half.
Swiatek – who withdrew from a grass tune-up event in Germany on Friday, citing fever and possible food poisoning – was drawn to open on Monday against Zhu Lin, who is 33rd this week but has a 1-4 career score at Wimbledon.
Gauff will meet 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round.
Alcaraz’s first match is against French veteran Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday.
Four Canadian women compete in the first round: No. 5 Bianca Andreescu takes on Spain’s Rebeka Masarova, Leylah Fernandez plays Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl, Rebecca Marino takes on Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, and Carol Zhao starts her first ever Wimbledon main draw. performance against the German Tamara Korpatsch.
