Wimbledon 2026 Players to Watch: The Favourites, the Champions, and the Next Generation

Wimbledon 2026 got underway on Monday 29 June, and the first round runs across the opening two days before the Championships build toward the singles finals on 11 and 12 July. The draw lost one of its headline names before a ball was struck, with Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing with a right wrist injury, and that absence has reshaped the men’s side of the bracket. Here is who to watch over the fortnight, from the obvious favourites to the young players who could turn the grass-court season on its head.

The men’s favourites

Jannik Sinner arrives as the defending champion and, with Alcaraz sidelined, the clear man to beat. The world number one is the top seed and the bookmakers’ favourite, and on a surface where his flat, early-strike game travels beautifully, he will take some stopping.

Alexander Zverev is the second seed and the most likely roadblock on paper, still chasing a maiden Grand Slam title that his game has long deserved. Behind him, Novak Djokovic carries the tournament’s biggest individual storyline: a victory here would make him the first player, man or woman, to win a 25th major singles title. At Wimbledon, where he has lifted the trophy seven times, you write him off at your peril.

The rest of the top eight is stacked with grass-court danger. Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz bring the serve-forward firepower that the lawns reward, Alex de Minaur the relentless movement, and former finalist credentials sit with Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev. Any of them is capable of a deep run if the draw opens up.

The women’s favourites

The women’s title is the most open it has been in years. Aryna Sabalenka holds the world number one ranking and the top seed, and the one glaring gap on her resume is a Wimbledon title, having never gone all the way at the All England Club. The motivation could not be clearer.

Iga Swiatek returns as the defending champion and remains the standard-setter on the biggest stages, while Elena Rybakina, the second seed and the 2022 champion, has the cleanest grass-court ball-striking in the field. Between the world number one chasing a first SW19 crown, the holder defending it, and a former champion seeded to meet them, the top of the women’s draw is box office.

The rising stars to watch

This is where Wimbledon 2026 gets interesting, because the next generation has arrived in force.

• Joao Fonseca (Brazil, seeded 24) is the most hyped teenager in the sport, a powerhouse ball-striker whose ceiling looks enormous. His first deep run at a major may only be a matter of time.
• Mirra Andreeva is no longer a secret. She won her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open shortly after turning 19 and arrives as a genuine title contender, not just a name for the future.
• Jakub Mensik (Czechia, seeded 15) already owns a big title and one of the heaviest serves on tour, a weapon that plays perfectly on grass.
• Learner Tien (USA, seeded 16) is a breakout left-hander whose variety and composure have carried him inside the top 20 at a young age.
• Alex Eala (Philippines, seeded 29) makes history as the first Filipina ever seeded at Wimbledon, a milestone moment for the sport in Southeast Asia.

There is a home contingent worth circling too. Jack Pinnington Jones announced himself with a debut Grand Slam win and has since added two titles and an ATP 500 quarter-final, while 17-year-old Hannah Klugman, the youngest player in the women’s main draw, reaches Wimbledon on the back of her first professional WTA win on the grass at Nottingham. British teenagers on Centre Court are exactly the kind of story a home crowd feeds on.

Where the money is going

tail.bet tracks the biggest real-money bets placed on Wimbledon as the matches play out, so beyond the rankings and the seedings, you can see who the high-rollers are actually backing on the grass. Follow the live Wimbledon coverage and the wider tennis whale-bet feed for the heaviest tickets of the fortnight, or browse the biggest bets we have ever tracked across every sport.

The Championships run from 29 June to 12 July. With Alcaraz out, a defending champion in Sinner, a 25th-major chase from Djokovic, and a women’s field as deep as it has been in a decade, the next two weeks on the grass have a little of everything.