Imagine being a middle-tier player hoping to make a good run at Wimbledon this year and waking up to find that your first-round opponent is Serena Williams.
Well, that’s going to be the reality for some player in the Women’s Tennis Association now that Serena Williams is confirmed to be in the Wimbledon draw but will not be seeded after withdrawing from last year’s Wimbledon. She has not played competitive tennis since that tournament, which has caused her to fall to No. 1,223 in the world.
As a result, she did not receive an official seed and will enter the tournament as a Wild Card. This means she could be drawn to face any woman in the tournament’s first round, which could include a seeded player who would normally face a relatively easy first-round match.
Serena Williams would not be that.
The other big news in the Wimbledon seeding is that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were awarded the top two seeds in the tournament (since the top two ranked players in the world, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev. This means we could be set up for another showdown between these two greats in the finals if they are able to advance in their draw.
While the official Wimbledon draw will be announced at 5 a.m. ET on Friday morning, we do know that 13 American players, seven women and six men, will enter the tournament as seeded players. So who are they?
American Men Who Earned Seeds
#11 Taylor Fritz: (24 years old, ranked 14th in the world) Fritz is 21-10 on the season and has won one singles title during the year. Fritz lost his second-round match in the French Open last month and is just 24-23 in his Grand Slam career. He’s also best on hard courts, and is just 12-16 in his career on grass.
#15 Reilly Opelka (24 years old, ranked 18th in the world) Opelka is 19-12 this season and has won two singles titles during the year. He lost his first-round match in the French Open to 31st-ranked Filip Krajinovic. At 6’11” Opelka is a massive player, who has been best on hard courts in his career. He has a 2-6 career record on grass and is 12-14 in Grand Slams during his career.
#21 John Isner (37 years old, ranked 25th in the world) Another massive athlete, Isner is 6’10” and has been hanging around the top-20 players in the world for a large portion of his long career. He is 13-12 this season and advanced to the 3rd round of the French Open last month before losing to 90th-ranked Bernabe Zapata Miralles. Isner has gone a solid 49-25 on grass in his career and is 83-53 in Grand Slam events.
#24 Frances Tiafoe (24 years old, ranked 28th in the world) Tiafoe was ranked a career-high 25th prior to the French Open, but a second-round loss to 58th-ranked David Goffin caused him to drop. Tiafoe, who has a tremendous story to get to this point in his career, is just 12-12 on the season. He is also just 10-11 on grass courts in his career and 21-24 in Grand Slams.
#30 Jenson Brooksby (21 years old, ranked 34th in the world) The youngest seeded American man in the tournament, Brooksby is 12-10 so far this season but lost in straight sets in the French Open to unranked veteran Pablo Cuevas. Brooksby has been solid on grass in his young career, going 5-3, and is 4-5 in Grand Slams overall, including a fourth-round appearance in last year’s U.S. Open, which ended in a four-set loss to Novak Djokovic.
#31 Tommy Paul (25 years old, ranked 35th in the world). Paul would not be seeded if it weren’t for Zverev and Medvedev missing this year’s event. However, Paul is 18-15 so far this season despite losing in the first round of the French Open to former top-10 player Cristian Garin. Paul is 2-3 on grass courts in his career and 6-11 overall in Grand Slams.
American Women Who Earned Seeds
#7 Danielle Collins (28 years old, 8th ranked player in the world) Collins made headlines earlier this year when she advanced to the Finals of the Australian Open. In her career, she is 27-18 in Grand Slams and has only advanced to the third round once at Wimbledon. This year, she is 12-6 and lost to fellow American Shelby Rogers in the second round of the French Open last month.
#8 Jessica Pegula (28 years old, 9th ranked player in the world) Pegula has had a strong 2022, going 23-12 on the season, including quarter-final appearances at both the French Open and Australian Open. She is 20-14 in her career in Grand Slams but has never made it beyond the second round at Wimbledon.
#11 Coco Gauff (18 years old, 12th ranked player in the world) Coco Gauff was the talk of the town just a month ago when she advanced to the finals of the French Open. She also advanced to the fourth round in both the 2021 and 2019 Wimbledon tournaments, so she has a record of success in this Grand Slam, and Grand Slams in general, where she has a 24-11 record. She’s also 23-12 this season, so will be coming into the tournament on a hot streak.
#19 Madison Keys (27 years old, 24th ranked player in the world) Keys was once ranked as high as 7th in the world but has struggled to keep pace with some of her countrywomen recently. She is a solid 18-10 on the season and was able to advance to the fourth round of the French Open this year before losing to 29th-ranked Veronika Kudermetova. She also reached the fourth round at the 2021 Wimbledon and is 88-37 in Grand Slams over her career.
#20 Amanda Anisimova (20 years old, 25th ranked player in the world) Anisimova is having a solid season, with a 23-9 record and a fourth-round appearance in the French Open. She is 20-13 in Grand Slams in her career, but is just 3-2 in her career at Wimbledon and lost in the first round in 2021, so she will be hoping to put that performance behind her this year.
#28 Alison Riske (31 years old, 35th ranked player in the world) A former top-20 player, Riske is having an up-and-down season with just a 16-12 record. She lost in the second round of the French Open to eventual champion Iga Swiatek and lost in the first round of last year’s Wimbledon. While she does have one quarter-final finish at Wimbledon on her resume, she is also just 26-39 in Grand Slams in her career.
#30 Shelby Rogers (29 years old, 37th ranked player in the world) Rogers is the only American seeded player with a losing record this season, going 11-13 in 2022 despite advancing to the third round of the French Open before losing to 20th-ranked Daria Kasatkina. Rogers is 31-28 in her Grand Slam career and has two third-round finishes at Wimbledon in her career.
For more tennis coverage like this Wimbledon article, visit amNY Sports
