The ones to watch at Wimbledon 2022

Serve yourself some strawberries and cream – this year’s Wimbledon is going to be a scorcher, in more ways than one! We’ve already seen some stellar weather in the first couple of days of the tournament, but the competition is heating up even further with this year’s players giving their all to stay on the courts.

Here’s who we’re looking out for this year, from long-established greats to up-and-coming underdogs.

The 40-year-old 23-time Grand Slam singles champion’s career continues to excel following her hamstring tear one year prior. Her first match sees her playing France’s Harmony Tan on Centre Court, with the hopes of matching Australian player Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles wins.

Britain’s Heather Watson, 30, is keen increase her career titles to 10, as she faces Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in her first match of the tournament. In 2016, she won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, which made her the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since Jo Durie in 1991.

Having received a career-best ranking of number 3 in the world following Wimbledon 2018, American Sloane Stephens is returning to the tournament hot on the heels of reaching the quarter finals at this year’s French Open. Although the 29 year old is seemingly less effective on grass, she has been repeatedly slated as the successor to Serena Williams. We’re excited to see how she performs in her first match of the tournament against China’s Qinwen Zheng.

18-year-old Coco Gauff has already made waves in the world of tennis by becoming the youngest player ranked in the top 100 by the Women’s Tennis Association. Her Wimbledon 2022 journey is already off to a flying start, having beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse in round one. She faces Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round on Thursday.

Asia Muhammad joins teammate Ena Shibahara on Wednesday for her first round in the women’s doubles. The 31-year-old American already has a wealth of career titles under her name, including seven doubles titles on the worldwide Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour.