Venus Williams – Svitolina in the first round, Swiatek avoids Rybakina, all you need to know about the women’s draw at Wimbledon

The draw for the women’s draw at Wimbledon was made in London on Friday. Iga Swiatek avoided defending champion Elena Rybakina, who is in the bottom half of the draw with Aryna Sabalenka.

Antoine Couvercelle/Panoramic

Simon Cambers

June 30, 2023

Just three weeks after the Roland-Garros battles, we’re back at another Grand Slam and the green, green grass of Wimbledon, where the draw was held on Friday morning.

The main news is that defending champion Elena Rybakina fell into the same section of the draw as world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Last year’s final cannot be repeated in 2023. Ons Jabeur, a finalist in 2022, is also in the bottom half of the draw for this Wimbledon.

World No 1 Iga Swiatek, who has never reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, has Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia and Coco Gauff in her section of the draw. She will also have three other Grand Slam winners in her company in Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin. The tournament begins on Monday.

The full women’s singles draw is here.

Venus Williams at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships

1st round matches we can’t wait to see

LES MATCHS DU PREMIER TOUR QU’ON A HÂTE DE VOIR

Venus Williams (WC) – Elina Svitolina (WC) : It’s one of the most mouth-watering matches of the first round of Wimbledon, of any year. The American, five-time winner of the tournament, will be making her 24th appearance in London as she plays the Ukrainian, freshly back on the circuit after giving birth to her first child. This will be the fifth duel between the two; Elina Svitolina leads 3-1 in head-to-head meetings and has not lost to Venus Williams since 2015.
Coco Gauff (7) – Sofia Kenin (Q) : On paper, it looks like being a very good duel between former French Open finalist Coco Gauff, who is only 19, and 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, who is only ranked 126th in the world and had to qualify for Wimbledon this year. The two players have already met in 2023, with Coco winning in two sets in Auckland.

Karolina Muchova (16) – Jule Niemeier : French Open finalist Karolina Muchova has big ambitions at Wimbledon this year, having reached the quarter-finals in 2019 and 2021. But she will have to be ready in the first round against one of last year’s great surprises in London, Jule Niemeier. The German reached the quarter-finals 12 months ago.