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Wimbledon 2026: Draw, schedule, seeds, wildcards and TV coverage

Day Three: The Championships - Wimbledon 2024
Wimbledon is just around the corner (Picture: Getty)

Wimbledon is back for 2026 as the world’s best tennis players gather in London to compete in the most prestigious tournament in the sport.

World No1 Jannik Sinner is the defending champion in the men’s singles while Iga Swiatek won last year’s women’s singles title.

But there will be no Carlos Alcaraz, with the 2023 and 2024 winner missing the tournament with a wrist injury.

Emma Raducanu will also be absent from Wimbledon with the British star pulling out with a stress fracture in her foot.

The Championships always serve up a number of interesting storylines and there a number of British players to keep an eye on in SW19 this year.

Here’s everything you need to know about Wimbledon 2026 including the start date, how to watch on TV, draw information and the full schedule of play.

When does Wimbledon start?

Wimbledon will start on Monday, June 29 and will end with the men’s singles final on Sunday, July 12.

The tournament will run for 14 days straight, with the ‘Middle Sunday’ rest day scrapped back in 2022.

Jannik Sinner is the defending champion (Picture: Getty)

How to watch on TV

The BBC remains the principal broadcaster of Wimbledon and you can follow all the action for free on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

In previous years, both the BBC and Eurosport have shown the singles finals but in 2026 it will be the BBC and TNT Sports broadcasting them.

Clare Balding will lead the BBC’s presenting team and you can expect to see the likes of Tim Henman, John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova working on their coverage.

Seeds

Men’s and women’s singles seeds

Men

  1. Jannik Sinner (Ita)
  2. Alexander Zverev (Ger)
  3. Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can)
  4. Ben Shelton (USA)
  5. Alex de Minaur (Aus)
  6. Taylor Fritz (USA)
  7. Novak Djokovic (Ser)
  8. Daniil Medvedev
  9. Flavio Cobolli (Ita)
  10. Alexander Bublik (Kaz)
  11. Casper Ruud (Nor)
  12. Andrey Rublev
  13. Jiri Lehecka (Cze)
  14. Luciano Darderi (Ita)
  15. Jakub Mensik (Cze)
  16. Learner Tien (USA)
  17. Frances Tiafoe (USA)
  18. Francisco Cerundolo (Arg)
  19. Karen Khachanov
  20. Arthur Fils (Fra)
  21. Tommy Paul (USA)
  22. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spa)
  23. Rafael Jodar (Spa)
  24. Joao Fonseca (Bra)
  25. Arthur Rinderknech (Fra)
  26. Cameron Norrie (Gbr)
  27. Ugo Humbert (Fra)
  28. Brandon Nakashima (USA)
  29. Tomas Etcheverry (Arg)
  30. Alejandro Tabilo (Chi)
  31. Ignacio Buse (Per)
  32. Matteo Arnaldi (Ita)
The two iconic trophies are up for grabs (Picture: Getty)

Women

  1. Aryna Sabalenka
  2. Elena Rybakina (Kaz)
  3. Iga Swiatek (Pol)
  4. Jessica Pegula (USA)
  5. Mirra Andreeva
  6. Amanda Anisimova (USA)
  7. Coco Gauff (USA)
  8. Elina Svitolina (Ukr)
  9. Linda Noskova (Cze)
  10. Karolina Muchova (Cze)
  11. Belinda Bencic (Swi)
  12. Marta Kostyuk (Ukr)
  13. Jasmine Paolini (Ita)
  14. Naomi Osaka (Jpn)
  15. Diana Shnaider
  16. Iva Jovic (USA)
  17. Sorana Cirstea (Rom)
  18. Ekaterina Alexandrova
  19. Anna Kalinskaya
  20. Maja Chwalinska (Pol)
  21. Marie Bouzkova (Cze)
  22. Leylah Fernandez (Can)
  23. Emma Navarro (USA)
  24. Clara Tauson (Den)
  25. Elise Mertens (Bel)
  26. Madison Keys (USA)
  27. Anastasia Potapova (Aut)
  28. Ann Li (USA)
  29. Alexandra Eala (Phi)
  30. Emma Raducanu (Gbr)
  31. Donna Vekic (Cro)
  32. Katerina Siniakova (Cze)

Wildcards and draw

Serena Williams is back at Wimbledon (Picture: Getty)

Serena Williams, fresh from her return to tennis, is unquestionably the biggest name to be handed a wildcard, with the 23-time Grand Slam winner also featuring in the doubles with sister Venus.

French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska is also a beneficiary, as are Britishstars Harriet Dart, Alicia Dudeney, Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic, Katie Swan and Mimi Xu.

Five of the wildcards in the men’s singles have gone to British players; Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Fery, Jack Pinnington Jones, Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken.

The other two, meanwhile, have gone to Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka.

Wimbledon draw – First round selected matches

Men’s singles

  • Jannik Sinner (1) vs Miomir Kecmanovic
  • Novak Djokovic (7) vs Wu Yibing
  • Alex Zverev (2) vs Alexander Blockx
  • Taylor Fritz (6) v Jack Draper
  • Cameron Norrie (26) v Michael Zheng

Women’s singles

  • Iga Swiatek (3) vs Taylor Townsend
  • Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Teodora Kostovic
  • Serena Williams vs Maya Joint
  • Harriet Dart v Jelena Ostapenko
  • Katie Boulter v Tyra Grant

Order of Play

Once the tournament is underway, the official Order of Play will be released each evening at approximately 6pm, although it can be subject to change.

The Order of Play can be located on Wimbledon’s official website here.

Novak Djokovic is attempting to win his 25th Grand Slam singles title (Picture: Getty)

Prize money

A record total of £64.2m in prize money will be awarded to players at Wimbledon 2026.

Singles prize money round-by-round

  • Champion – £3.6m
  • Runner-up – £1.8m
  • Semi-finalist – £900k
  • Quarter-finalist – £480k
  • Fourth round – £300k
  • Third round – £185k
  • Second round – £126k
  • First round – £80k

How to get tickets

It should be noted that the majority of tickets for Centre Court and the No.1 Court are unavailable because the public Wimbledon ballot has closed.

But spectators are still able to use the famous Wimbledon queue every day to try and get a grounds pass or tickets to one of the show courts.

If you reach the front of the queue and there are only grounds passes left, fans can try the ticket resale kiosk once inside the grounds, located north of Court 18, who sell a number of resale tickets for the show courts.

Iga Swiatek claimed the trophy in 2025 (Picture: Getty)

Full schedule

After the gates open each day at 10am, play is provisionally scheduled to start on outside courts at 11am. On the No.1 Court, play starts at 1pm and on Centre Court, play starts at 1.30pm.

June 29

June 30

July 1

July 2

July 3

July 4

July 5

July 6

July 7

July 8

July 9

July 10

July 11

July 12

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