Wimbledon 2022: Packed women's draw highlights tennis Grand Slam

American Cori "Coco" Gauff (pictured) drew the same half of the draw as Serena Williams, Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova, among other top womwen's players at Wimbledon 2022. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
1 of 5 | American Cori "Coco" Gauff (pictured) drew the same half of the draw as Serena Williams, Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova, among other top womwen's players at Wimbledon 2022. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

June 24 (UPI) -- A loaded half of the women's singles circuit headlined the draws for Wimbledon 2022, which took place Friday in London.

The first round of the annual grass-court Grand Slam will start Monday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The men's and women's singles main-draw circuits will feature 128 players apiece.

The winner of each singles title will receive $2.5 million. Tournament play will air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC through July 10.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland test her 35-match winning streak against Croatian Jana Fett in the first round.

The top half of the draw also features No. 4 seed Paula Badosa of Spain, No. 6 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, No. 9 Garbine Muguruza of Spain, No. 13 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Americans Jessica Pegula (No. 8), Cori "Coco" Guaff (No. 11) and Serena Williams (1,204), a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion.

The top half also features Americans Amanda Anisimova, Shelby Rogers, Sloane Stephens, Madison Brengle, Christina McHale, Lauren Davis, Louisa Chirico, Emma Bektas, Catherin Harrison and Claire Liu.

Williams will make her first Grand Slam appearance since Wimbledon 2021 with a first-round match against Harmony Tan of France. She could battle Pliskova as early as the third round.

Gauff, who lost to Swiatek earlier this month in the French Open final, will start her Wimbledon run against Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse. The 18-year-old Floridian could face Anisimova, 20, as early as the third round.

Swiatek could face Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champ, as early as the fourth round.

No. 2 Annett Kontaveit of Estonia, No. 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, No. 5 Maria Sakkari of Greece, No. 7 Danielle Collins of the United States, No. 10 Emma Raducanu of England and No. 14 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland lead the bottom half of the women's singles draw.

Americans Bernarda Pera, Madison Keys, Alison Riske and Anni Li join Collins in the bottom half.

On the men's side, Novak Djokovic of Serbia received the No. 1 seed. He will battle Korean Soonwoo Kim in the first round. Djokovic won the past three men's singles titles at Wimbledon.

He received the top seed because world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia is not allowed to play and No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany is injured. Organizers announced in April that they would ban Russian and Belarusian players due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Djokovic won't face a player ranked inside the Top 17 of the ATP rankings until at last the quarterfinals, if he advances through the first four rounds. His half of the draw also features No. 3 seed Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and No. 9 Cameron Norrie of England.

Reilly Opelka, John Isner, Frances Tiafoe, Christian Harrison, Steve Johnson and Tommy Paul also share a half with Djokovic.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain headlines the bottom half of the draw. Nadal will battle Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the first round. He could face American Sam Querry as early as the second round.

Nadal's half also includes: No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and No. 8 Matteo Berrettini of Italy. He could meet Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals if both players win their first four matches.

Tsitsipas could meet No. 13 Denis Shapovalov as early as the fourth round. Nadal and Djokovic can't play until the final.

Daily Wimbledon coverage will start at 6 a.m. from Monday through July 10. Monday's matches will air on ESPN. The women's singles final will be at 9 a.m. July 9. The men's final will be at the same time the next day.

Wimbledon 2022

All times in EDT

Monday

First round from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on ESPN

Tuesday

First round from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on ESPN

Wednesday

Second round from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on ESPN

Thursday

Second round from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on ESPN

July 1

Third round from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on ESPN

July 2

Third round from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN; from 1 to 4 p.m. on ABC

July 3

Round of 16 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN; from 1 to 4 p.m. on ABC

July 4

Round of 16 from 6 a.m to 4 p.m. on ESPN2; from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN

July 5

Women's quarterfinals from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN; from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN2

July 6

Men's quarterfinals from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN; from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN2

July 7

Women's semifinals from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN

July 8

Men's semifinals from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on ESPN

July 9

Women's final at 9 a.m. on ESPN

July 10

Men's final at 9 a.m. on ESPN

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