Tennis’ biggest tournament begins soon at the All-England Tennis Club. Here are all the dates and times that you need to know for the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
The lawn courts of SW19 held their first tournament all the way back in 1877 – as a men’s singles event. By 1884, the Championships expanded to include a tournament for men’s doubles and women’s singles.
Since those early days, Wimbledon has established itself as the iconic tournament to win in professional tennis. Its prestigious nature means that the Championships is one of Tennis’ four annual majors. The Australian Open, US Open, and Roland Garros make up the quartet.
Throughout its proud history, the best players in the world have come to Wimbledon to test their skills on the pristine grass courts. But who is playing this year?
The men’s draw
The official draw for Wimbledon was made on June 24, setting up each player’s potential path to the final.
In the men’s draw, Number 1 seed Novak Djokovic enjoys a potential run where he will only be able to meet long-time rival Rafael Nadal in the final. However, he may have to face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. The Spaniard is widely considered a dark horse to have a deep run at SW19.
Contrastingly, Nadal’s side of the draw may see a tough test against Matteo Berrettini if he wants to reach “Championship Sunday”. The reigning Queen’s champion has hopes of his own, making a potential matchup a mouth-watering prospect.
But what about British prospects? Andy Murray comes into Wimbledon unseeded this year. Despite this, he starts his campaign with a match against fellow unseeded player James Duckworth. The Scot’s path to The Championship would likely involve a battle with Novak Djokovic though.
Notable Round-one matches: Djokovic (1) vs Kwon; Nadal (2) vs Cerundolo; Murray vs Duckworth
The women’s draw
British hope Emma Raducanu enters Wimbledon as the 10th seed in 2022. She takes on Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck in the first round. Although she is carrying an injury, last year’s US Open champion will hope for a strong showing on home soil.
Elsewhere, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams makes her long-awaited return to competition. She starts against Harmony Tan in round one but will likely face seeded opponents at every round after this. For instance, she may face last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova as early as round three.
Women’s first seed Iga Swiatek will aim to beat her previous-best Wimbledon performance – making the fourth round last year. In 2022, she comes in as Roland Garros champion and with an unbelievable win streak. She starts by playing qualifier Jana Fett.
Notable round-one matches: Raducanu (10) vs Van Uytvanck; Swiatek (1) vs Fett; Williams vs Tan
With the tournament paths set, here are the dates and times you need for the 2022 edition of Wimbledon.
Wimbledon 2022: key dates and times
This year, Wimbledon’s first round starts on Monday, June 27. From here, a packed schedule means that the second, third, and fourth rounds will be settled by the end of play on Monday, July 4.
After this, the business end of The Championships starts, as the quarter-finals take place on Tuesday, July 5 and Wednesday, July 6. Then, the women’s and men’s singles tournaments pair off on alternate days. The women’s semi-finals are on Thursday, July 7, whilst the men’s is the day after.
Finally, the women’s singles final will be on Saturday, July 9, with the men’s final closing out the event on Sunday, July 10.
For earlier rounds, The Championships host matches on a number of different courts. On the outer courts, matches start at 11am and continue throughout the day. At Court 1, the first game each day starts at 1pm. Additionally, Centre Court matchups start at 1.30pm. However, during finals weekend, Centre Court play starts slightly later, at 2pm.
Both singles finals will start at 2pm on their respective days.
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