Former Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu have all been awarded wild cards for Wimbledon. The grass-court tournament starts on July 1. Osaka — a four-time major champion and former No. 1 player — and three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber returned from maternity leave at the start of this season.
Quick Read
- Former Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, and Emma Raducanu have been awarded wild cards for Wimbledon, which starts on July 1.
- Osaka, a four-time major champion, and Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam winner, returned to the tour this season after maternity leave. Osaka is currently ranked 113th and reached the quarterfinals in a recent Wimbledon warm-up event.
- Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, will play at Wimbledon for the first time in two years after recovering from wrist and ankle surgery.
- Kerber, the 2018 Wimbledon champion and former top-ranked player, and Wozniacki, who returned from maternity leave last August, have also received wild cards. Wozniacki has never progressed past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
- British players Francesca Jones, Heather Watson, and Yuriko Miyazaki were included in the initial list of wild card invitations, with one main draw wild card still to be allocated.
- Seven British players, including last year’s junior champion Henry Searle, have been invited to play in the men’s draw.
The Associated Press has the story:
Osaka, Raducanu, Wozniacki & Kerber receive wild cards for Wimbledon
Newslooks- WIMBLEDON, England (AP) —
Former Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu have all been awarded wild cards for Wimbledon. The grass-court tournament starts on July 1. Osaka — a four-time major champion and former No. 1 player — and three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber returned from maternity leave at the start of this season.
Currently ranked 113th, Osaka was the only player to take a set from top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the French Open and followed that up with a quarterfinal spot last week in ’s-Hertogenbosch, a warm-up event for Wimbledon.
Former U.S. Open champion Raducanu made her breakthrough at Wimbledon by advancing to the fourth round in 2021. She will be playing there for the first time in two years after undergoing wrist and ankle surgery in 2023.
Kerber won the 2018 Wimbledon title and was runner-up at the All England Club in 2016. She is also a former top-ranked player.
Wozniacki returned from maternity leave last August. She’s never got past the fourth round at Wimbledon, where she will be playing for the first time since 2019.
British players Francesca Jones, Heather Watson and Yuriko Miyazaki were also included in the initial list of invitations. One main draw wild card remains to be allocated. Seven British players have been invited to play in the men’s draw, including last year’s junior champion Henry Searle.
