Wimbledon 2023 draw does defending champion Elena Rybakina no favours

James Richardson 30 Jun 2023 11:47 AM

Elena Rybakina

Third seed Elena Rybakina faces a potentially tricky path into the second week of her Wimbledon title defence after a tricky draw.

Wimbledon held the draw for the women’s singles on Friday 30 June 2023 throwing up some tantalising early match-ups.

The Kazakhstan No 1 will face Shelby Rogers, who has seven Top 10 victories in her career to date and isn’t exactly fodder for the champion.

In the second round, she might play Alizé Cornet, whose 25 victories against Top 10 opponents include a Wimbledon 2022 shock of Iga Swiatek, which ended the World No 1’s 37-match winning streak.

Three of this year’s grass-court champions are also in Rybakina’s quarter: Nottingham champion Katie Boulter, Birmingham champion Jelena Ostapenko, and Berlin champion Petra Kvitova. If seeding holds until the quarterfinals, Rybakina is expected to meet No 6 seed Ons Jabeur, a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final.

Ladies' Singles – Projected Quarter-finals

Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff
Jessica Pegula vs Caroline Garcia

Elena Rybakina vs Ons Jabeur
Maria Sakkari vs Aryna Sabalenka#Wimbledon

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2023

Jabeur is drawn against Magdalena Frech in the opening round and will go on to face either Ysaline Bonaventure or Chinese qualifier Zhuoxuan Bai.

Swiatek, who just successfully defended her Roland Garros title, will face Zhu Lin in the opening round, while No 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka will face Panna Udvardy. In the round of 16, Sabalenka can encounter Karolina Muchova, whom she lost to on match point in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.

Swiatek will face either Martina Trevisan or Sara Sorribes Tormo if she get can get beyond her opening assignment.

Our defending champions' first round draw 👇

• Elena Rybakina vs Shelby Rogers
• Novak Djokovic vs Pedro Cachin#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/nJC6KZfFwF

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2023

British wildcard Harriet Dart is also in Swiatek’s section and opens her campaign against France’s Diane Parry.

Swiatek could meet her first-seeded opponent in the third round if 30th seed Petra Martic can win her opening two matches against Linda Fruhvirtova and then the winner of the Dart vs Parry clash.

Venus Williams, a seven-time major champion, and Elina Svitolina, who returned from maternity leave in April, will square off in a first-round matchup of wild cards.

The No 7 seed Coco Gauff will face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who qualified for the tournament this week.

Wimbledon women’s singles seeds