Wimbledon is just around the corner and defending champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova are gearing up to return to the Championships. Last year, Alcaraz’s unexpected victory in the final brought attention to the emergence of the next generation of tennis stars at SW19. Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic in a thrilling five-set match to become the first Wimbledon champion outside of the dominant trio of Djokovic, Murray, Federer, and Nadal in two decades. On the women’s side, Vondrousova surprised everyone by becoming the first unseeded winner of the women’s title.
As the fitness of former champions Djokovic and Murray remains uncertain, Alcaraz is expected to face stiff competition from men’s World No 1 Jannik Sinner at this year’s tournament. The women’s draw will see Iga Swiatek as the top seed, although she is not as dominant on grass as she is on other surfaces, making for an unpredictable and wide open tournament. Fans can also look forward to Emma Raducanu’s return to Wimbledon after missing out last year due to injury.
For viewers in the UK, Wimbledon will be broadcast on the BBC, with full coverage available on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website. The tournament kicks off on July 1st, with matches starting on the outside courts at 11am BST. The Championships will run until the weekend of July 13th and 14th, with the women’s and men’s singles finals scheduled for those respective days.
The Wimbledon main draw will take place on June 28th, following the conclusion of qualifying matches. Fans can tune in to wimbledon.com to watch the draws for both the men’s and women’s singles, or follow The Independent’s live blog for updates and key first-round matchups. This year, Wimbledon has set a record prize money of £50m, with the men’s and women’s singles champions each receiving a record £2.7m. The first round prize money for singles is set at £60,000, highlighting the prestige and significance of the tournament.