2022 Wimbledon: When does it take place, who are absent, when is the draw, TV channels, prize money

• Shahida Jacobs
• June 20, 2022

Edition No 135 of The Championships, Wimbledon, is just around the corner and we give you a lowdown of the important things ahead of the 2022 grass-court Grand Slam at SW19.

When does Wimbledon 2022 take place?

The 135th edition The Championships, Wimbledon, will start on Monday June 27 and will climax on Sunday July 10 with the gentlemen’s final. This year will mark the 128th version of the Ladies’ Singles Championship with the final taking place on Saturday July 9.

This is also the 54th staging of Wimbledon in the Open Era.

More about venue for the only grass-court Grand Slam on the calendar…

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Church Road, Wimbledon, London, has staged the Grand Slam since 1877.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famous Centre Court at its current location. The world renowned main court has a capacity of 14,979 and a retractable roof, which was launched in 2009 and cost £100 million to build.

No. 1 Court can host up to 12,345 people while its retractable roof was inaugurated in 2019 at a cost of “only” £70m while the No. 2 Court – the former graveyard court of champions – has a capacity for 4,000 people.

100 years of history. Ready for new chapters.

The Stage Awaits.#Wimbledon #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/KO4raqm5ab

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 6, 2022

What is different about this year’s tournament?

Where to begin…

No Russian and Belarusian players are competing at Wimbledon this year after the All England Lawn Tennis Club decided to ban players from the two countries following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.

But that’s not where that particularly story ends as the ATP, WTA and ITF retaliated by stripping the grass-court Grand Slam of all ranking points.

Oh and away from that controversy, there will be play on all 14 days at Wimbledon for the first time in history as there will be play scheduled on middle Sunday.

AELTC announced last year that it would do away with the traditional day of rest on the middle Sunday of the tournament.

Who are the defending champions?

Novak Djokovic won his sixth Wimbledon title in 2021 as he defeated first-time finalist Matteo Berrettini 6–7 (4–7), 6–4, 6–4, 6–3.

On the women’s side, Ashleigh Barty won her first crown at SW19 last year when she secured a 6–3, 6–7 (4–7), 6–3 win over Karolina Pliskova. Of course, Barty won’t defend her title after retiring in February this year.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic became the first Croatian pair to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles when they beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos while Hsieh Su-wei from Taiwan successfully defended her title as she teamed up with Belgian Elise Mertens.

There was some joy for Great Britain in the mixed doubles as Neal Skupski paired up with Desirae Krawczyk from the United States to win the title.

Who are absent from this year’s tournament?

We will get the banned player list soon, but this year will mark the first time in Roger Federer’s professional career that he won’t feature at Wimbledon as the eight-time champion is still recovering following knee surgery last year.

World No 2 Alexander Zverev was going to be the top seed, but he picked up a nasty injury when he slipped in the semi-final at the French Open while 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem is also absent.

The players who are absent because of the Russia/Belarusian ban include Russians Daniil Medvedev (world No 1), Andrey Rublev (No 7), world No 24 Karen Khachanov and Aslan Karatsev (39), and Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (50).

On the women’s side, 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez is nursing a foot injury, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is also out injured while Elina Svitolina is on maternity leave.

Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka was a late withdrawal on Saturday as she is struggling with an Achilles injury.

Five-time champion Venus Williams is also set to miss the tournament for only the second time since her debut in 1997, although she could still receive a late wildcard.

The banned list includes Belarusian trio world No 7 Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka (15) and Aliaksandra Sasnovich (45) while the Russians who are absent are Daria Kasatkina (20), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (21), Liudmila Samsonova (26), Veronika Kudermetova (30) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (31).

What about the seeds for the 2022 event?

The seeding for the 2022 tournament are based on the ATP and WTA Rankings as of June 20 and Novak Djokovic will be top seed due to Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev’s absence.

As things stand, Djokovic will be followed by Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, Matteo Berrettini, Cameron Norrie and Jannik Sinner.

Dan Evans (29th) joins Norrie as the only two Brits who are seeded.

On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek leads the way ahead of Anett Kontaveit, Ons Jabeur, Paula Badosa, Maria Sakkari, , Karolina Pliskova, Danielle Collins, Jessica Pegula, Garbine Muguruza and Emma Raducanu.

More about qualifying…

The qualifying tournament takes place at Roehampton from Monday June 20th until Thursday June 23rd and 16 players from the men’s section and 16 players from the women’s section will get a ticket into the main draw.

Speaking of the main draw…

The main draw will take place on Friday, June 24 at 10:00 BST and just a reminder that Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka are in the draw as they have been handed wildcards.

What is the daily schedule of play?

Play on the outside courts start at 11:00 BST every day while the action on Court 1 gets underway at 13:00 before the main attraction on Centre Court starts at 13.30.

Which TV channels and streaming services will broadcast the tournament?

The BBC and Wimbledon go hand-in-hand and BBC One, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the Red Button will have all your coverage while you can also listen on BBC Radio 5 live sport.

Eurosport UK will also air daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 while the singles finals will be broadcast live.

Eurosport will also cover most European countries along with beIN Sports (France), Sky Deutschland (Germany), Sky Italia (Italy), Sport TV (Portugal) and SRG/SSR TV (Switzerland).

ESPN and Tennis Channel will broadcast Wimbledon in the United States, TSN Canada will have coverage in Canada, Nine is the main broadcaster in Australia, Canal Plus International (Afrique) will service Africa and SuperSport will have action in South Africa.

What about the prize money?

A record £40,350,000 in prize money is on offer at Wimbledon 2022, an increase of 15.23% compared to 2021.