2026 Wimbledon Women’s Entry List: Seed Tracker & Live Status Updates
The grass-court tennis season is officially here. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has released the official main-draw entry list for the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, and it promises to be an unforgettable two weeks of tennis. As players move away from the slow red clay courts, this list gives fans a clear look at who is leading the sport heading into the third Grand Slam of the year.
The tournament organizers used the WTA rankings from May 18, 2026, to set the initial entry list. The group includes a great mix of past Grand Slam champions, rising teenage stars, and experienced veterans. With 100 of the world’s top 101 healthy players entering the 128-player field directly, the battle for the prestigious trophy will be incredibly tough.
The Favorites: Sabalenka and Rybakina Lead the Pack
Sitting at the very top of the entry list are two of the most powerful baseline players in modern tennis: Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka started the grass season with an aura of dominance. Her massive serve and heavy groundstrokes seem perfectly built for the fast, low-bouncing grass of London. Holding the No. 1 spot on the entry list confirmed her status as the player to beat. However, Wimbledon remained a trophy she deeply wanted to win for the first time, a dream that ended this year with a fourth-round loss to Naomi Osaka.
Right behind her is Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion. Rybakina’s smooth, powerful serving motion and flat shots make her a nightmare to defend against on grass. Her past success at Wimbledon gives her a huge mental advantage on Center Court, making her an automatic favorite whenever the grass season begins, though she was upset in the third round by Elise Mertens.
Defending the Crown: Swiatek’s Grass-Court Evolution
Reigning champion Iga Świątek took the No. 3 spot on the entry list, with many fans wondering if she could repeat her historic 2025 title run. For the first few years of her career, grass was considered Świątek’s weakest surface because her heavy topspin shots are less effective on low-bouncing lawns. Her spectacular championship run last year completely changed that story, though she was stopped in the third round this year by Alexandra Eala.
Rounding out the top four is American superstar Coco Gauff. Gauff has a long history with Wimbledon, starting with her famous breakthrough as a 15-year-old qualifier back in 2019. Now an established Grand Slam champion at the top of the women’s game, Gauff has the elite athleticism and defensive skills to handle the unpredictable bounces that grass courts bring.
The Teenage Revolution and New Wave of Talent
The most exciting part of the 2026 entry list is the number of young players rising to the top of the sport. Led by 19-year-old sensation Mirra Andreeva at No. 5, this new generation is no longer just “promising”—they are earning top seed positions at major tournaments.
Andreeva’s smart tactics and high tennis IQ allow her to handle powerful shots and redirect them with ease. Further down the list, names like 16-year-old Iva Jovic (No. 16) of the United States highlight how quickly the landscape is shifting. While grass courts usually reward experience and patience, these teenagers play with a fearless talent that makes them dangerous opponents for anyone in the draw.
Dark Horses, Comeback Stars, and Notable Absences
Wimbledon draws are famous for being disrupted by grass-court specialists who might not be in the top 10 but know exactly how to play on the surface. Former finalist Amanda Anisimova sits dangerously at No. 6, while Czech star Karolína Muchová (No. 10) brings a beautiful mix of slices and volleys that is tailor-made for grass.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka returned to the Wimbledon lawns at No. 14. While Osaka’s biggest titles have come on hard courts, her flat, thunderous power can be completely unstoppable when she finds her rhythm, which she proved by reaching the quarterfinals. Additionally, past champions like Barbora Krejčíková find themselves unseeded or lower on the list due to recent ranking shifts, making them dangerous wildcards in the draw.
A Notable Absence: The only player inside the world’s top 101 who could not enter the main draw was France’s Varvara Gracheva, who is still sidelined while recovering from a serious knee injury (torn ACL) suffered in March.
Because Gracheva could not play, the final automatic direct-entry spot went to Austria’s Sinja Kraus. This left notable names like Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu (No. 30) needing to rely on her entry ranking, though she unfortunately had to withdraw from the event just before it started due to a leg injury.
The Top 32 Direct Entries
Note: As per Grand Slam regulations, neutral players (such as Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anna Kalinskaya, and Diana Shnaider) compete without country or flag representation, which is why those spaces are blank.
| Entry No. / Seed | Player Name | Country | WTA Rank (22/06/2026) | Live Tournament Status | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aryna Sabalenka | — | 1 | Fourth round lost to Naomi Osaka [14] | £300,000 |
| 2 | Elena Rybakina | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 2 | Third round lost to Elise Mertens [25] | £185,000 |
| 3 | Iga Świątek | Poland (POL) | 3 | Third round lost to Alexandra Eala [29] | £185,000 |
| 4 | Jessica Pegula | United States (USA) | 4 | Quarterfinals lost to Coco Gauff [7] | £480,000 |
| 5 | Mirra Andreeva | — | 5 | Second round lost to Barbora Krejčíková | £126,000 |
| 6 | Amanda Anisimova | United States (USA) | 6 | Third round lost to Madison Keys [26] | £185,000 |
| 7 | Coco Gauff 🥉 | United States (USA) | 7 | Semifinals lost to Karolína Muchová [10] | £900,000 |
| 8 | Elina Svitolina | Ukraine (UKR) | 8 | First round lost to Daria Snigur | £80,000 |
| 9 | Linda Nosková 🥇 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 12 | Champion, defeated Karolína Muchová [10] | £3,600,000 |
| 10 | Karolína Muchová 🥈 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 9 | Runner-up, lost to Linda Nosková [9] | £1,800,000 |
| 11 | Belinda Bencic | Switzerland (SUI) | 11 | Fourth round lost to Coco Gauff [7] | £300,000 |
| 12 | Marta Kostyuk 🥉 | Ukraine (UKR) | 13 | Semifinals lost to Linda Nosková [9] | £900,000 |
| 13 | Jasmine Paolini | Italy (ITA) | 17 | Quarterfinals lost to Marta Kostyuk [12] | £480,000 |
| 14 | Naomi Osaka | Japan (JPN) | 14 | Quarterfinals lost to Karolína Muchová [10] | £480,000 |
| 15 | Diana Shnaider | — | 15 | Second round lost to Liudmila Samsonova | £126,000 |
| 16 | Iva Jovic | United States (USA) | 16 | Fourth round lost to Jessica Pegula [4] | £300,000 |
| 17 | Sorana Cîrstea | Romania (ROU) | 18 | Third round lost to Linda Nosková [9] | £185,000 |
| 18 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | — | 19 | Third round lost to Iva Jovic [16] | £185,000 |
| 19 | Anna Kalinskaya | — | 20 | Third round lost to Belinda Bencic [11] | £185,000 |
| 20 | Maja Chwalińska | Poland (POL) | 21 | First round lost to Mananchaya Sawangkaew [Q] | £80,000 |
| 21 | Marie Bouzková | Czech Republic (CZE) | 23 | Fourth round lost to Elise Mertens [25] | £300,000 |
| 22 | Leylah Fernandez | Canada (CAN) | 24 | First round lost to Janice Tjen | £80,000 |
| 23 | Emma Navarro | United States (USA) | 26 | Third round lost to Marta Kostyuk [12] | £185,000 |
| 24 | Clara Tauson | Denmark (DEN) | 25 | First round lost to Maria Sakkari | £80,000 |
| 25 | Elise Mertens | Belgium (BEL) | 27 | Quarterfinals lost to Linda Nosková [9] | £480,000 |
| 26 | Madison Keys | United States (USA) | 22 | Fourth round lost to Linda Nosková [9] | £300,000 |
| 27 | Anastasia Potapova | — | 28 | First round lost to Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro | £80,000 |
| 28 | Ann Li | United States (USA) | 29 | First round lost to Zeynep Sönmez | £80,000 |
| 29 | Alexandra Eala | Philippines (PHI) | 32 | Fourth round lost to Jasmine Paolini [13] | £300,000 |
| 30 | Emma Raducanu | Great Britain (GBR) | 33 | Withdrew due to leg injury | N/A |
| 31 | Donna Vekić | Croatia (CRO) | 34 | First round lost to Ashlyn Krueger [Q] | £80,000 |
| 32 | Kateřina Siniaková | Czech Republic (CZE) | 36 | Second round lost to Nikola Bartůňková | £126,000 |
