Everything you need to know about Wimbledon 2023 as Novak Djokovic chases 54-year-first
The Wimbledon Championships are upon us again, and here’s everything you need to know about all the action at the All England Club.
Tennis
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tennis. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The most prestigious tournament in tennis will soon return for another year, with the best tennis players in the world set to descend on the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for the 136th edition of the Wimbledon Championships.
Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Novak Djokovic is set to chase his 24th Grand Slam title, as well as continue on the path to becoming the first man to achieve a calendar year Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969, while Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina is defending her maiden title from last year.
When’s it on?
The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will start on Monday July 3, at around 8pm Australian time, and run until the men’s final late on Sunday night, July 16.
Play will likely start in the early rounds from 8pm AEST.
The Ladies Final will take place late on Saturday night July 15.
How to watch
The 2023 Wimbledon Championship will be available to watch via Stan Sport. It requires users to have a Stan account, which comes in $10, $16 and $21 options, and then pay for the $15 add-on to get access to the sport package, which will give access to every game of the championship.
There will also be a selection of matches played free on 9Now as well as broadcasting on free-to-air channel 9Gem.
Aussies in action
The Australians are thin on the ground at the All-England Club this year, with Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios the only seeded men from down under.
De Minaur will be seeded 15th, while Kyrgios sneaks in despite an ATP ranking of 33, courtesy of the withdrawals of Russian Karen Khachanov and Spanish Pablo Carreno Busta.
Despite this, there are still questions over Kyrgios’ fitness, with last year’s finalist having only played one Tour match all year, a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Chinese world No. 59 Yibing Wu in the opening round in Stuttgart earlier this month.
In the women’s, with world No. 59 Ajla Tomljanovic withdrawing as she recovers from knee surgery earlier this year, only Daria Saville will enter the main draw under a special ranking.
However, outside of Tomljanovic, currently no other Aussies are inside the world’s top 100 on the WTA tour.
The entry list rankings are based solely on world rankings for the third time, after the abolition of Wimbledon’s previous computer-based formula that gave an advantage to players who had traditionally done well at SW19 and on grass.
Men’s automatic qualifiers: Alex de Minaur (World No. 16), Nick Kyrgios (No. 33), Max Purcell (No. 62), Christopher O’Connell (No. 70), Jordan Thompson (No. 71), Jason Kubler (No. 74), Aleksandar Vukic (No. 91) and Alexei Popyrin (No. 92) are all through to the main draw based on their world rankings.
Men’s qualifying: Thanasi Kokkinakis (No. 89), James Duckworth (No. 109), Rinky Hijikata (No. 113), Marc Polmans (No. 175) and Alex Bolt (No. 342) all failed to qualify for the main draw.
Women’s main draw: Daria Saville (World No. 54) qualifies on the basis of a special ranking, while Ajla Tomljanovic (No. 58) has already withdrawn from the event due to a knee injury.
Storm Hunter (No. 162) was the only Australian to make it out of qualifying to the main draw, defeating Japan‘s Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour to join the tournament proper.
Women’s qualifying: Kim Birrell (World No. 116), Jaimee Fourlis (No. 169), Priscila Hon (No. 179), Olivia Gadecki (No. 136), Arina Rodionova (No. 230) all failed to qualify for the main draw.
The men’s and women’s main draws for Wimbledon will take place on Friday June 30.
Who are the defending champions?
Novak Djokovic will be on the hunt for an eighth Wimbledon title, including a fifth straight and seventh in nine events.
Last year, he defeated Aussie Nick Kyrgios 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 to seal his title.
He has since gone on to be the winningest male grand slam champion in history with his French Open triumph his 23rd title.
The reigning ladies champion is Russian-born Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina.
Rybakina became the first Kazakhstani to win a grand slam when she defeated Ons Jabeur 3-6 6-2 6-2 in last year’s final.
It was a controversial victory as Russian and Belarusian players had been banned from the event due to the war in Ukraine, leading the WTA and ATP tours to strip ranking points from the Championships.
But Rybakina has continued her strong form, making the Australian Open final earlier this year as she rose to No. 3 in the world.
Players to watch
Carlos Alcaraz is set to chase his first major title on grass, having never gone past the fourth round at the All-England Club before.
Alcaraz comes into the tournament as the top seed after winning his first ATP title on grass at the Queen’s Club last week.
Novak Djokovic is the reigning champion and will be chasing a calendar Grand Slam after titles in Melbourne and Paris earlier in the year.
In the women’s competition, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka returns after an enforced absence, having won her first Slam in Melbourne in January.
Tunisia’s world No. 6 Ons Jabeur comes in having won grass titles in Birmingham and Berlin, and was runner-up last year.
Originally published as Everything you need to know about Wimbledon 2023 as Novak Djokovic chases 54-year-first
Australian Open’s call on shock US Open mixed doubles decision
The Australian Open has made a decisive call as to whether it will follow in the footsteps of the US Open and relegate mixed doubles to a pre-tournament sideshow.
Shock career move after star flees country
Italian tennis star Camila Giorgi has changed her career again after sensationally quitting tennis to become a lingerie model last year.