10 players to watch at Wimbledon 2026
• 4 minute read
Get ready for The Championships, Wimbledon 2026 with our breakdown of the top 10 players to watch out for this year.
From British stars to potential future Grand Slam champions – check out our picks for this year.
Emma Raducanu
Coming off the back of a short clay-court swing, British No.1 Raducanu announced her arrival on the grass at the HSBC Championships.
Raducanu fought her way to a first WTA 500 final in an impressive campaign at The Queen’s Club. The Briton defeated Anna Blinkova, Sorana Cirstea, Kamilla Rakhimova, and Iva Jovic in only her first tournament on grass this year.
Despite losing out to Donna Vekic in the final, Raducanu showed why she can be a serious threat on this surface, thanks to her precise ball-striking and excellent movement.
Raducanu has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon twice and had a tight blockbuster clash with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka last year. This year's draw has revealed that Raducanu could play Sabalenka again in the third round.
Coming in as a seeded player this year, if she can replicate her Queen’s Club form, she will be a force to be reckoned with.
Jack Draper
It’s been great to see Draper back in action at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, where the former world No.4 has made a strong comeback from a knee injury.
It’s been a frustrating and stop-start 12 months for Draper since he lost out in the second round of Wimbledon last year, but the British star looks raring to go at SW19.
There have been good signs at points this year – notably a win over Novak Djokovic to reach the quarter-finals of Indian Wells – and Draper has a good pedigree on grass. He previously made the semi-finals of Queen’s and won his first career title in Stuttgart.
Now with Andy Murray in his coaching corner as well, Draper also has that added Grand Slam-winning expertise on his side.
However, the Briton has been dealt a tough first round draw against sixth seed Taylor Fritz. More on Fritz later...
Jessica Pegula
Pegula has consistently achieved strong results on grass throughout her career and will be looking to translate that to the next level at Wimbledon.
The American is a former Berlin champion in 2024 and made the final again this year. She lifted the Bad Homburg title last year, defeating future Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the final.
She’s made the quarter-finals of Wimbledon once in 2023, but hasn’t made it past the second round since.
The world No.4 has two WTA titles already this season – including the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free – and made the semi-finals at the Australian Open. Could a Wimbledon run also be on the cards?
Taylor Fritz
Staying with the Americans, Fritz is arguably in the best form of any men’s player on the grass so far this year.
After a difficult start to the season, Fritz opened his grass court campaign with back-to-back finals in Stuttgart and Halle, with wins over the likes of Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, and Alexander Bublik.
While he didn’t manage to lift either title, he’s putting together the type of form that should make him a contender at Wimbledon.
Last year, he lost a heartbreaker to Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, but with the Spaniard out this summer, this could be his chance.
First, though, he'll have to beat Britain's Draper in one of the toughest draws in the opening rounds. Draper leads their head-to-head 3-2.
Alexandra Eala
21-year-old Eala showed glimpses of what she was capable of on grass last season, during a run to her first WTA final in Eastbourne.
This year, she’s taken another step entirely. The Filipina won her first grass court title at the Lexus Birmingham Open and reached the semi-final of the WTA 500 in Berlin.
In Berlin, she defeated Queen’s champion Vekic, Australian Open and Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, and world No.8 and two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Elina Svitolina.
Since her tour breakthrough at the 2025 Miami Open, Eala has climbed the ranks to become a top-30 player, and it’s clear she has a strong game for the grass.
Cam Norrie
Since Andy Murray’s Wimbledon title in 2016, Norrie has been Great Britain’s standout singles performer at The Championships.
The 30-year-old reached his first and only Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon in 2022, and last year fought his way into the quarter-finals.
The grass courts of south west London appear to suit the five-time ATP title-winner – especially on No.1 Court, the British star’s favourite stadium on tour.
Norrie lost out in the first round of the HSBC Championships this year, but will come in with a coveted seeding, meaning that he’ll avoid many of the top players through the opening rounds.
He starts his campaign against Michael Zheng and could play third seed Feli Auger-Alliasime in the third round.
Donna Vekic
Vekic had a week to remember at The Queen’s Club this year, in what was a fairytale title run.
The former Nottingham champion had lost out to Blinkova in the second round of HSBC Championships qualifying before getting the call-up to replace Marta Kostyuk as a lucky loser.
Vekic went on to beat three Brits in the main draw, including straight sets semi-finals and finals against Katie Boulter and Raducanu to claim the biggest title of her career.
She reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2024 and has won multiple titles on the grass. On what seems to be her favourite surface, Vekic will be a force at this year’s Wimbledon.
Francisco Cerundolo
Speaking of HSBC Championships winners, Argentina’s Cerundolo has put himself in strong contention for a good run at Wimbledon this year.
Cerundolo battled through four three-set matches, including the longest final in Queen’s Club history against former champion Tommy Paul, to win his first ATP 500 title.
His resilience, fighting spirit, and incredible forehand have shown that he can cause problems for any player on the grass.
Despite his limited experience on the surface, Cerundolo now has two grass court titles to his name, and confidence will be at an all-time high.
Katie Boulter
The summer grass court season is Boulter’s favourite time of year, and coming off the back of a semi-final run at Queen’s, she’ll be feeling good about her chances at Wimbledon.
The standout result from that week was Boulter’s victory over world No.2 Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals – the biggest of her career.
Tie that in with her fourth career title earlier this year in Ostrava and her previous record of two Nottingham trophies, and Boulter will be someone a lot of the seeded players want to avoid in the early rounds.
Boulter has never made it past the third round, but could this be the year? She will start against Italian Tyra Caterina Grant.
Ben Shelton
Shelton has managed to secure himself a top-four seeding at Wimbledon this year and is a consistent mainstay inside the world’s top-10.
The American only made his Wimbledon debut in 2023, having played very little on the grass, but last year he reached the quarter-finals.
In the last eight, he came up against Jannik Sinner, who has proved somewhat of a sticking point for Shelton in these big tournaments.
The big-serving, heavy-hitting lefty has a style well-suited to grass and is starting to piece his game together on the surface. He recently won the Stuttgart Open title – his first on grass – after beating Fritz in the final.
He’s already won three titles this season, making this his most successful campaign to date. A run at Wimbledon would take it to new heights.
