Wimbledon 2026: Will Pegula, Gauff, Kostyuk, Osaka or Eala become 10th different winner in 10 years?
For the 10th year in a row, Wimbledon will crown a different champion after former winners Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina joined the list of high-profile casualties.
The last woman to win Wimbledon more than once was Serena Williams in 2016 when she won the last of her seven titles at the All England Club. The tennis great is also the last player to successfully defend her title at SW19 as she also won the 2015 Championships.
But with Williams among the five Wimbledon champions in the 2026 main draw to exit in the first week of this year’s event, a new name will be engraved on the Venus Rosewater Dish come Saturday, 11 July.
Besides Williams, defending champion Swiatek, 2024 winner Barbora Krejcikova and 2022 winner Rybakina are the former champions who featured this year.
Williams, of course, lost in the first round to Maya Joint following her comeback to singles action, Swiatek was beaten by Alex Eala in the third round, and Rybakina and Krejcikova lost at the same stage against Elise Mertens and Karolina Muchova, respectively.
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2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova did not feature this year as she has been banned for five years for refusing to give an anti-doping sample to an official last year.
Last 10 Wimbledon Champions
2016 – Serena Williams
2017 – Garbine Muguruza
2018 – Angelique Kerber
2019 – Simona Halep
2020 – Ashleigh Barty
2021 – No Tournament
2022 – Elena Rybakina
2023 – Marketa Vondrousova
2024 – Barbora Krejcikova
2025 – Iga Swiatek
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Jessica Pegula is the highest-ranked player left in the draw after the fourth seed came through a testing encounter against fellow American Iva Jovic, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, but up next is her former doubles partner Coco Gauff.
Not too many people backed Gauff to reach the second week, but she overcame Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-final at Wimbledon for the first time.
With the pair meeting in the quarter-final, it means one of them will fall and the winner goes on to face either Naomi Osaka or Muchova in the semi-final.
Osaka sent world No 1 Sabalenka packing in straight sets while Muchova beat Krejcikova.
So one of Pegula, Gauff, Osaka and Muchova will reach the final from the top half of the draw.
The Bottom Half
Players from section 5 onwards still have to play their fourth-round matches and 12th seed Marta Kostyuk faces qualifier Ashlyn Krueger while the big match on Monday will see 13th seed Jasmine Paolini up against Alex Eala.
Paolini, of course, is a two-time Grand Slam runner-up while this is new ground for Eala after the Filipina stunned Swiatek in the third round.
Madison Keys accounted for 2025 Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova’s exit and she takes on ninth seed Linda Noskova for a place in the quarter-final while Marie Bouzkova faces Mertens, who beat Rybakina.
Grand Slam Winners Left In Draw
Gauff, who won the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open, Keys – winner of the 2025 Australian Open – and four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka (2018 and 2020 US Open, and 2019 and 2021 Australian Open) are looking to add to their major titles.
