Wimbledon 2022: Women's singles power rankings
The dust has settled on the 2022 Wimbledon Championships main draw and players are gearing up for action, which gets underway at the All England Club on Monday.
Top seed Iga Swiatek and former champions Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep lead a jam-packed field, which also includes young guns Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu, as well as a host of other big names.
Let's take a look at the top eight contenders for the title based on grasscourt performances over the last three years.
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Note: The following formula was used to calculate the power rankings for this year's Wimbledon: (1x points earned in the 2022 grass season+ 0.75x points earned in the 2021 grass season + 0.25x points earned in the 2019 grass season).
#8 Coco Gauff
One of the most in-form players on tour right now, Coco Gauff will be one of the names to watch out for at the All England Club.
Guaff has provided ample evidence of her grasscourt prowess with her performances in the last two editions of Wimbledon, making the fourth round on both occasions. She comes into this year's Championships with a higher seeding than ever before and a confidence-boosting run to the semifinals in Berlin under her belt.
#7 Belinda Bencic
Belinda Bencic has not had the biggest results at Wimbledon, but the Swiss boasts of some big wins on grass over the years.
A back-to-back finalist in Berlin in 2021-22, Bencic knows what it takes to play well on the surface. While she was forced to retire in this year's final against Ons Jabeur, she possesses the weapons and acumen needed to turn things around in her favor.
#6 Petra Kvitova
One of only two women in the draw with multiple Wimbledon trophies to her name, Petra Kvitova is one of the best active players on grasscourt. The Czech showcased the same with her sensational run to the Eastbourne final. Having come into the tournament in poor form, she has managed to strike form just in time for her favorite Slam.
She is scheduled to play in the Eastbourne final against Jelena Ostapenko 11 years after she reached the final of the event for the first time. She went on to win her maiden Grand Slam title at SW19 in 2011.
#5 Beatriz Haddad Maia
Beatriz Haddad Maia has one of the highest number of wins on grass this season (12) and the only player to have beaten her on the surface this year is Kvitova in the last four at Eastbourne.
The last few weeks have seen Haddad Maia win consecutive titles in Nottingham and Birmingham — with wins over multiple top-20 players. Needless to say, the Brazilian will be one name that players will want to avoid at Wimbledon this year.
#4 Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber was an unlikely semifinalist at Wimbledon last year. She beat the likes of Gauff as well as grasscourt mavericks Karolina Muchova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich en-route to the last-four.
Her 2019 run at SW19, along with a title-winning run at her home event in Bad Homburg — where she made the quarterfinals this year — was enough to secure fourth spot in the power rankings. The German has not played a lot tennis in the lead-up to Wimbledon, but as a former champion, she will have plenty of good memories to fall back on while stepping out on court.
#3 Jelena Ostapenko
Jelena Ostapenko lifted her first grasscourt title in Eastbourne last year, beating former Anett Kontaveit in the final.
Twelve months later, the Latvian is back in the final at the event and she has been striking the ball cleanly this week, making quick work of opponents, including the likes of Camila Giorgi and Madison Keys.
A former semifinalist at Wimbledon, Ostapenko will be determined to post a strong result in the grasscourt Major.
#2 Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur is in the midst of a career-best season in 2022 as things seem to have finally clicked for the Tunisian trailblazer. She beat the likes of Gauff and Karolina Muchova en-route to the title in Berlin. The win, however, was hardly surprising as Jabeur's versatile game had also seen her lift the Birmingham trophy last year — her first career title.
The Tunisian lost in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year to Aryna Sabalenka, but she comes into Wimbledon as a much-more experienced and complete player this year round. As the third seed, Jabeur will definitely be one of the firm title favorites.
#1 Karolina Pliskova
Few would have foreseen Karolina Pliskova's astonishing run to the summit clash in the 2021 Wimbledon final. But once you look at the indivdual aspects of the Czech's game — a massive first serve and flat groundstokes for starters — her effortless success on the surface makes sense.
In addition to her run to the final last year, Pliskova won a title at Eastbourne (2021) and other deep runs in Berlin and Wimbledon (both 2019) to show for, she definitely stands worthy of the tag.
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Honorable mentions
The likes of former champions Serena Williams and Simona Halep, along with capable players like Karolina Muchova, Camila Giorgi and Elena Rybakina, have had good results on grass in recent years and could cause some upsets at SW19 this year.