How do Wimbledon seedings work?
What is seeding in tennis?
Seedings in tennis is the ranking a player receives before entering a tournament. Seedings are awarded to the highest ranked WTA and ATP players and are crucial to ensuring a more balanced draw.
Seedings also prevent the top players from competing against each other until the later rounds of a tournament. For example, the top four seeds wouldn't meet each other until the semi-finals of a Grand Slam.
How Wimbledon seedings work
Wimbledon seeding is determined by a player’s position in the world rankings in the lead up to the tournament. The cut-off date for seedings is usually a week or so ahead of the tournament’s start date.
For the men’s draw, seedings are determined by a player’s ATP Tour ranking, while the WTA Tour rankings are used for the women’s event. Players are seeded in the exact order in which they rank in their respective Tour rankings.
Occasionally, a player’s seeding can be higher than their actual ranking if higher-ranked players withdraw from the tournament.
Similarly, seedings are also given to doubles teams across the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles competitions, as well as wheelchair and quad draws.
Which players are seeded for Wimbledon 2026?
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed in the Wimbledon 2026 women's singles as she goes in search of her first title at SW19 and first Grand Slam away from the hard courts.
In the men’s draw, world No.1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner is the top seed in what will be his first tournament on grass this year.
2025 women’s singles champion Iga Swiatek will come in as the third seed this season, and recent Roland Garros title-winner Mirra Andreeva is the fifth seed.
Men’s French Open champion Alexander Zverev is the second seed after Carlos Alcaraz announced that he won’t be competing this year. Seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic is the seventh seed as he aims for a 25th Grand Slam title.
There are two British players seeded at Wimbledon this year. Emma Raducanu is the 30th seed after her final run at the HSBC Championships, and former semi-finalist Cam Norrie is the 26th seed.
Being a seeded player guarantees that they will avoid the top-ranked players through the opening few rounds of The Championships.
Here’s a full list of the seeded players at Wimbledon 2026:
|
Women’s singles |
Men’s singles |
|
1. Aryna Sabalenka |
1. Jannik Sinner (ITA) |
|
2. Elena Rybakina (KAZ) |
2. Alexander Zverev (GER) |
|
3. Iga Swiatek (POL) |
3. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) |
|
4. Jessica Pegula (USA) |
4. Ben Shelton (USA) |
|
5. Mirra Andreeva |
5. Alex de Minaur (AUS) |
|
6. Amanda Anisimova (USA) |
6. Taylor Fritz (USA) |
|
7. Coco Gauff (USA) |
7. Novak Djokovic (SRB) |
|
8. Elina Svitolina (UKR) |
8. Daniil Medvedev |
|
9. Linda Noskova (CZE) |
9. Flavio Cobolli (ITA) |
|
10. Karolina Muchova (CZE) |
10. Alexander Bublik (KAZ) |
|
11. Belinda Bencic (SUI) |
11. Casper Ruud (NOR) |
|
12. Marta Kostyuk (UKR) |
12. Andrey Rublev |
|
13. Jasmine Paolini (ITA) |
13. Jiri Lehecka (CZE) |
|
14. Naomi Osaka (JPN) |
14. Luciano Darderi (ITA) |
|
15. Diana Shnaider |
15. Jakub Mensik (CZE) |
|
16. Iva Jovic (USA) |
16. Learner Tien (USA) |
|
17. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) |
17. Frances Tiafoe (USA) |
|
18. Ekaterina Alexandrova |
18. Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) |
|
19. Anna Kalinskaya |
19. Karen Khachanov |
|
20. Maja Chwalinska (POL) |
20. Arthur Fils (FRA) |
|
21. Marie Bouzkova (CZE) |
21. Tommy Paul (USA) |
|
22. Leylah Fernandez (CAN) |
22. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) |
|
23. Emma Navarro (USA) |
23. Rafael Jodar (ESP) |
|
24. Clara Tauson (DEN) |
24. Joao Fonseca (BRA) |
|
25. Elise Mertens (BEL) |
25. Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) |
|
26. Madison Keys (USA) |
26. Cam Norrie (GBR) |
|
27. Anastasia Potapova (AUT) |
27. Ugo Humbert (FRA) |
|
28. Ann Li (USA) |
28. Brandon Nakashima (USA) |
|
29. Alexandra Eala (PHI) |
29. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) |
|
30. Emma Raducanu (GBR) |
30. Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) |
|
31. Donna Vekic (CRO) |
31. Ignacio Buse (PER) |
|
32. Katerina Siniakova (CZE) |
32. Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) |
FAQs
Seeding at Wimbledon was first introduced in 1924, although it looked quite different from the system in place today. At the time, up to four players from each nation were placed in separate quarters of the draw to avoid early match-ups between players from the same country.
In 1927, the format shifted to rank players according to their ability, rather than their nationality. By 1975, Wimbledon has begun using computerised rankings to determine seedings for the women's and men's draws.
Between the years of 2002-2019, seeding for the men’s singles and women’s singles draws followed two different systems.
For the men’s draw, the top 32 players in the ATP world rankings were given guaranteed seeded spots, but their exact placing could be adjusted based on how well they’ve performed on grass courts over the past two years. This helped form a better reflection of their form and abilities on that particular surface, which could have an impact on the overall draw.
For the women’s singles, seeding mostly followed the WTA rankings list. However, in rare cases, a committee were able to make changes to the seedings if they felt a player’s grass court skills and credentials weren’t accurately reflected in the rankings.
In 2021, seedings for both the men’s and women’s singles draws changed to be determined solely on ranking.
At Wimbledon, there are 32 seeds in both the women’s and men’s singles draw - the same as the other three Grand Slam tournaments.
Only three unseeded players have been crowned champions at Wimbledon.
Boris Becker (1985) and Goran Ivanisevic (2001) are the only two unseeded players to have lifted the men’s singles title at The All England Club.
Meanwhile, Czechia’s Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded player to win the women’s singles title after beating Ons Jabeur in the 2023 final.
The No.1 seed at Wimbledon is the highest-ranked player in the tournament based on the ATP and WTA rankings before the event begins.
In 2025, Jannik Sinner was the No.1 seed in the men’s singles draw, while Aryna Sabalenka was the No.1 seed in the women’s singles competition.
View the full list of seeded players from the women's and men's singles draw at this year's Wimbledon.
Women’s Wimbledon seeds 2025:
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Coco Gauff (USA)
- Jessica Pegula (USA)
- Jasmine Poalini (ITA)
- Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
- Madison Keys (USA)
- Mirra Andreeva
- Iga Swiatek (POL)
- Paula Badosa (ESP)
- Emma Navarro (USA)
- Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
- Diana Shnaider
- Amanda Anisimova (USA)
- Elina Svitolina (UKR)
- Karolina Muchova (CZE)
- Daria Kasatkina (AUS)
- Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
- Ekaterina Alexandrova
- Liudmila Samsonova
- Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
- Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)
- Donna Vekic (CZE)
- Clara Tauson (DEN)
- Elise Mertens (BEL)
- Magdalena Frech (POL)
- Marta Kostyuk (UKR)
- Magda Linette (POL)
- Sofia Kenin (USA)
- Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
- Linda Noskova (CZE)
- Ashlyn Krueger (USA)
- McCartney Kessler (USA)
Men’s Wimbledon seeds 2025:
- Jannik Sinner (ITA)
- Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
- Alexander Zverev (GER)
- Jack Draper (GBR)
- Taylor Fritz (USA)
- Novak Djokovic (SRB)
- Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)
- Holger Rune (DEN)
- Daniil Medvedev
- Ben Shelton (USA)
- Alex de Minaur (AUS)
- Frances Tiafoe (USA)
- Tommy Paul (USA)
- Andrey Rublev
- Jakub Mensik (CZE)
- Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)
- Karen Khachanov
- Ugo Humbert (FRA)
- Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
- Alexei Popyrin (AUS)
- Tomas Machac (CZE)
- Flavio Cobolli (ITA)
- Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
- Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
- Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
- Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
- Brandon Nakashima (USA)
- Alex Michelsen (USA)
- Tallon Griekspoor (NED)
- Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
Here is a list of the top five seeds at Wimbledon 2026 in the women's and men's draws:
Women's
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
- Iga Swiatek (POL)
- Jessica Pegula (USA)
- Mirra Andreeva
Men's
- Jannik Sinner (ITA)
- Alexander Zverev (GER)
- Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
- Ben Shelton (USA)
- Alex de Minaur (AUS)