There are two things that Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Emma Raducanu and Angelique Kerber all have in common. They have all claimed Grand Slam titles in the past and they have been handed wild cards into this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
The women’s draw at SW19 will be headlined by world No.1 Iga Swiatek who will be seeking to win her first major title on the grass. Among those challenging her will be former champion Elena Rybakina, two-time finalist Ons Jabeur and the heavy-hitting Aryna Sabalenka. However, the quartet of wild card entrants can cause upsets during the early stages of the tournament.
Osaka illustrated that she is returning to her best form at the French Open where she took Swiatek to three sets in a thrilling second round showdown before losing. The Japanese former world No.1 returned to action in January following the birth of her first child and has registered four wins over top 20 players so far. On the grass, she reached the quarter-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch before losing to Bianca Andreescu. Then in Berlin, she lost her opening match to world No.8 Qinwen Zheng.
“Strangely, I think grass may be more physical than clay for me,” Osaka said on June 12th. “That’s in terms of, once you’re in the corner you have to have the strength to get out of the corner of the point is basically over with, and that’s where I fell very confident. Maybe that’s translating in my playing.”
This season will be the first time Osaka has played at Wimbledon in five years and will be only her fourth appearance overall. She has reached the third round twice and lost in the first round on another occasion.
Wozniacki has experienced a mixed six months on the Tour where she has won back-to-back matches in two out of eight tournaments played. The first event she did so was in Indian Wells where she reached the quarter-finals. More recently, she illustrated her grasscourt potential in Bad Homburg by upsetting Elina Svitolina in the first round earlier this week and could pose a threat at Wimbledon if she can maintain some consistency in her game.
“We’ll see what happens, I’m hoping for the best,” Wozniacki recently told the Press Association about her return to Wimbledon.
“I have so many special memories. I won junior Wimbledon back in 2005, so it’s a long time ago. There’s something so special about playing on Wimbledon’s Centre Court that you can’t replicate anywhere else.”
The All England Club is the only major event the Dane has yet to reach the quarter-final stage. However, she has made it to the fourth round on six previous occasions.
Home fans will be hoping former US Open champion Raducanu will be able to maintain her recent surge in form at the tournament. Before the grass swing, the Brit opted to undergo a training block instead of playing at the French Open which is proving to be a good move. This month she has reached her first WTA semi-final since 2022 in Nottingham and on Wednesday recorded her first-ever win over a top 10 player (Jessica Pegula) at the Eastbourne International.
Raducanu, who is still only 21, has not won a title since 2021 and her progression in the sport has been hampered by injury setbacks in recent years. However, since reuniting with her former coach Nick Cavaday there appears to be more stability in her game.
“I would say right before Nottingham it happened,” Raducanu replied when asked when she got her spark back.
“I’m just really grateful to have this feeling again because it’s something that I feel like I’ve been missing in a way for the last few years, and I haven’t felt this good about my tennis and excited about it and passionate for a long, long time.”
Finally, Kerber will be hoping to continue her love affair with Wimbledon which she won in 2018, reached the final in 2016 and the semi-finals on two other occasions. However, her preparation for the event hasn’t gone to plan with back-to-back first round defeats on the grass.
“I made too simple mistakes in the important moments,” she said after losing to Russia’s Diana Shnaider in Bad Homburg. “It didn’t go as I had hoped. And then it’s difficult to chase after on grass. She played it well to the end.”
The quartet of wild cards will learn who they will play in the first round on Friday morning when the draw takes place. Overall, eight players have been handed passes into the women’s tournament. The other four are two-time quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic, Francesca Jones, Yuriko Lily Miyazaki and Heather Watson.