Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Angelique Kerber—all past grand slam champions—have all been given wild cards into Wimbledon.
Emma Raducanu, who underwent wrist and ankle surgery last year, will make her first appearance at the All England Club, where she made her breakthrough by making it to the fourth round in 2021, in two years.
The former US Open champion had a promising start to her grass-court career last week as she advanced to the semi-finals of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
After becoming moms, Osaka and Wozniacki, two former world champions, will participate in the Wimbledon main draw for the first time in five years.
After losing out on a wild card at the French Open, Wozniacki expressed her disappointment to the PA news agency, saying, “I have so many special memories.”
“It was a long time ago—I won junior Wimbledon in 2005. Playing on Wimbledon’s Center Court has a unique quality that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.
Along with British competitors Francesca Jones, Heather Watson, and Yuriko Miyazaki, former Wimbledon champion Kerber—another former world number one who took a break from the game to raise a family—has also been awarded a wild card.
Henry Searle, the junior champion from the previous year, is one of seven British players that received the first round of wild cards in the men’s draw.
The Wolverhampton native, 18, created history this season by winning the boys’ singles championship at home for the first time since 1962. He has advanced significantly in the senior division.
On the opposite end of the age range, 29-year-old Billy Harris, who began his career touring Europe in a modified transit van, will make his grand slam debut.
In addition to Liam Broady, who overcame Casper Ruud to get to the third round of the last Wimbledon tournament, Arthur Fery, Paul Jubb, Jan Choinski, and Jacob Fearnley, who won his maiden Challenger championship in Nottingham last year, also received wild cards.
But, Dominic Thiem will need to go through qualifying to make his farewell appearance at the All England Club. The Austrian said last month that he will retire from professional tennis at the end of the current season due to wrist issues.
Junior players Hannah Klugman, Mingge Xu, and Mika Stojsavljevic will compete in the women’s singles qualifying round, while 16-year-old Oliver Bonding and 21-year-old Jack Pinnington Jones—who shocked Cameron Norrie in Nottingham last week—are among those with wild cards into the men’s singles qualifying round.