Our tennis Andy Schooler delivers his verdict on the women’s singles at Wimbledon 2022 – can Iga Swiatek continue her dominance?
Iga Swiatek
World Number 1
Tournament history (most recent 1st): 4R-1R
Best Grand Slam performance: Winner, 2022 & 2020 French Open
2022 record: 44-3 (6 titles – French Open, Rome, Stuttgart, Miami, Indian Wells, Doha
Grasscourt form: None
Having won 35 consecutive matches, equalling the best run of the century in the women’s game, it’s no surprise that Swiatek is a firm favourite.
But should she be shorter?
She’s been almost untouchable during that r
Tournament history (most recent 1st): 4R-1R
Best Grand Slam performance: Winner, 2022 & 2020 French Open
2022 record: 44-3 (6 titles – French Open, Rome, Stuttgart, Miami, Indian Wells, Doha
Grasscourt form: None
Having won 35 consecutive matches, equalling the best run of the century in the women’s game, it’s no surprise that Swiatek is a firm favourite.
But should she be shorter?
She’s been almost untouchable during that run. She’s lost just two of the last 58 sets she’s played ad 35 of those have been won 6-2 or better.
The big question mark – and the one keeping her price odds-against – is her ability on grass.
The world number one is inexperienced on this surface having played only eight tour-level matches on grass. Four of those have been won.
To be fair, Swiatek did reach the last 16 of Wimbledon 2021, losing out in a three-set battle with Ons Jabeur.
Still looks the most likely winner but the individual punter will need to ask ‘is the price right?’
un. She’s lost just two of the last 58 sets she’s played ad 35 of those have been won 6-2 or better.
The big question mark – and the one keeping her price odds-against – is her ability on grass.
The world number one is inexperienced on this surface having played only eight tour-level matches on grass. Four of those have been won.
To be fair, Swiatek did reach the last 16 of Wimbledon 2021, losing out in a three-set battle with Ons Jabeur.
Still looks the most likely winner but the individual punter will need to ask ‘is the price right?’
Coco Gauff
World Number 12
Tournament history: 4R-4R
Best Grand Slam performance: Runner-up, 2022 French Open
2022 record: 23-12 (0 titles)
Grasscourt form: SF Berlin
Can it really be three years since a 15-year-old Gauff emerged on the scene by beating Venus Williams at the All England Club?
Well, it is and Gauff, still only 18, will head into Wimbledon 2022 as the second favourite.
She’s already got a better record than Swiatek here, having twice made the fourth round, while she’s already won matches on grass coming in having made the semis in Berlin.
The American is more than happy with this surface and if she plays at the level she did at the recent French Open, where she made the final, she’ll have every chance of becoming the first teenager since Maria Sharapova in 2004 to win this title.
Simona Halep
World Number 19
Tournament history: DNP-W-3R-QF-QF-1R-SF-2R-1R-2R
Best Grand Slam performance: Winner, 2019 Wimbledon & 2018 French Open
2022 record: 23-8 (1 title – Melbourne)
Grasscourt form: SF Birmingham
This year, the former champion will return to the All England Club for the first time since 2019 win.
Injuries which dogged Halep in 2021 now appear to be behind her and she’ll arrive in SW19 knowing few other players have delivered results on grass in the same way she has.
Prior to her title run, she’d reached one semi-final and two quarter-finals at Wimbledon, so the surface won’t be a problem.
Recent form is also good with Halep enjoying a run to the semi-finals in Birmingham where she lost a closely-fought battle with eventual champion Beatriz Haddad-Maia, one she could – maybe should – have won.
Basically, she’s been there and done it which could be crucial in this year’s field.
Serena Williams
World Number 1204
Tournament history: 1R-RU-RU-DNP-W-W-3R-4R-W-4R-W-W-RU-QF-DNP-3R-RU-W-W-QF-SF-DNP-3R
Best Grand Slam performance: Winner, 23 titles (7 at Wimbledon)
2022 record: 0-0
Grasscourt form: None (playing doubles at Eastbourne this week)
There would be something apt about Williams winning a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title on the 20th anniversary of her first Wimbledon crown.
But, let’s be honest, the chance of it happening are slim. And probably slimmer than odds of 14/1 suggest.
Williams hasn’t played a match since suffering a hamstring injury at Wimbledon last year and while she’s a player who has won the biggest titles with little or no prep in the past, asking a 40-year-old to do so in these circumstances is a big task.
However, what will keep punters wondering is the fact she’s won this title seven times before with her powerful serve and groundstrokes having caused so much damage at Wimbledon over the years.
Despite her age, Williams has made the final in four of her last five visits to the All England Club but I won’t be backing her to reach another in 2022.
Ons Jabeur
World Number 3
Tournament history: QF-1R-2R-1R
Best Grand Slam performance: Quarter-finals, 2021 Wimbledon & 2020 Australian Open
2022 record: 30-9 (2 titles – Berlin, Madrid)
Grasscourt form: W Berlin
Jabeur’s form has been strong for months now, as reflected by her move into the world’s top three – she’s equalled Amanda Coetzer’s African ranking record.
The Tunisian has both power and finesse and her variety should make her a dangerous player at Wimbledon where last year she reached the quarter-finals.
She’s warmed up perfectly by winning the Berlin title before taking the sensible decision only to play doubles in Eastbourne – she said she had learned her lesson of playing too much prior to the French Open where, as one of the favourites, she lost in the first round.
The likeable star would be a popular winner and that eventually should not be ruled out by any means.
Best of the Rest
If you are prepared to put Switek to one side – and her grasscourt record does make that possible – then this is a wide-open tournament.
A good draw on Friday morning could really set things up nicely for an outsider, especially those landing in the opposite half to the firm favourite.
Beatriz Haddad Maia is certainly a player the seeds will want to avoid.
She arrives in great form having won the grasscourt tournaments in Nottingham and Birmingham, beating the likes of Maria Sakkari, Simona Halep and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the process.
Maybe playing Eastbourne this week will backfire – she’s played a lot of tennis – but 30/1 is a price which will soon disappear if she’s drawn in the bottom half.
Angelique Kerber (25/1) is also worth a mention.
She won the pre-French Open tournament in Strasbourg and at time of writing is competing in Bad Homburg – the event she won last season prior to her semi-final run at Wimbledon.
There are echoes of 12 months ago and few have produced the results on grass as consistently as the German over the years – as well as last year’s semi, she also made the last four in 2012, was the runner-up in 2016 and famously won the title by beating Serena Williams in 2018.
Finally, I can’t sign off without mentioning two of the world’s top four – both of whom are available at 35/1.
Anett Kontaveit hasn’t managed to replicate the stunning run she produced in the second half of 2021 when she won 28 of 30 matches.
But she’s a player who has won grasscourt titles in the past and only last year she reached the final in Eastbourne.
As second seed, she can’t face Swiatek until the final so may be worth some small change.
Likewise putting up Paul Badosa at 35s is risky.
She has the weapons to succeed on grass and last year she reached the fourth round here.
Still, she will need to arrest a dip in form which occurred during the claycourt season and showed no sign of abating as she lost to Briton Jodie Burrage in Eastbourne this week.
Best Bets
Leading contender: Iga Swiatek – 6/4
Outside chances: Beatriz Haddad Maia – 30/1; Angelique Kerber 25/1
