The fight for a Wimbledon wildcard has arguably never been this hotly-contested on both the men and women’s side of the draw as several top players vye for automatic entry into the main draw.
The grass court Grand Slam tends to save their wildcards for local players, with 15 out of 16 names last year representing Great Britain.
Petra Kvitova, who has already confirmed her retirement, was the only non-Brit to gain a wildcard at the Grand Slam for the 2025 event, who was beaten in the first round by Emma Navarro.
In the men’s draw, especially, there looks to be several big name players looking for a wildcard as they currently sit outside the top 100 of the ATP Tour rankings.
Jack Draper, Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka, Matteo Berrettini, and Grigor Dimitrov will all have to go through qualifying this year if they do not receive a wildcard.
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While Draper is undoubtedly set to receive a wildcard, there is another British tennis star who has all-but-confirmed he will also gain instant access.
Dan Evans has confirmed he will retire after Wimbledon, bringing an end to his two-decade long career at his home Grand Slam.
It would be very surprising to see Evans miss out on a Wimbledon wildcard due to his impending retirement, but he is low in the pecking order currently.
There are currently 10 British players who would need a wildcard to enter Wimbledon that are currently ranked higher than Dan Evans, so it could be a real fight for the Brits and the high-profile names.
Arthur Fery, Billy Harris, Jack Pinnington-Jones, Toby Samuel, Liam Broady, Felix Gill, Harry Wendelken, and Oliver Crawford would all have been a higher priority for Wimbledon were it not for Evans’ retirement.
With just eight wildcards to give out, and Wimbledon’s tendency to give them to British star, some very big names could be set to miss out.
It’s hard to see Wimbledon handing out wildcards to Kyrgios and Berrettini, despite the fact they have both previously reached the final.
Berrettini has proved he still has Grand Slam pedigree by reaching the Roland Garros quarter-finals, while Kyrgios picked up a grass court win in Stuttgart recently.
Wawrinka is the most likely non-British star to receive a wildcard from Wimbledon, but nothing is guaranteed and the Swiss star will surely be sweating on the decision.
Elsewhere, Dimitrov’s chances of receiving a wildcard are likely very low, despite the fact he was a set away from reaching the quarter-finals at last year’s event.
No matter what happens, there are bound to be some very disappointed players who miss out on the Wimbledon main draw this year.
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