Fabulous Floaters, the top 5 ladies to avoid early on at Wimbledon
We listed five unseeded players on the women’s draw who could cause havoc in your brackets!
Wimbledon’s draw has just taken place a few hours ago and the outcome, in contrast to the draw itself, was a spectacle. The hosts of the Game To Love Podcast can not wait and we are sure the players feel the same way too. However you can’t always get the draw that you want or maybe feel like you deserve and there are some very dangerous players in the mix that are unseeded due to various reasons. Who should we be looking out for to cause an early upset, for dispatching the first seeded player or at least bringing us very good first round matches? Without further ado, here are our top “floaters” for the 2022 Women’s Wimbledon tournament:
1. Serena Williams (USA)
40 years old
Currently ranked: 1204
Best Wimbledon result: 7 titles between 2002 and 2016
Surely “Momma Smash” doesn’t need an introduction but for those of you who might have forgotten her we will shortly tell you why any player will be very unhappy to play Serena in the first round. First off, she is one of the most successful players of all time and brings all the experience you could possibly want to the table. Secondly she always has been one of the most powerful players on tour. Can she still blow away the opposition like she did in the past and improve on her already astonishing 107-15 grass win-loss record? We definitely like to think so. Of course, she has had some injury scares and her general fitness could be a concern, but why would she enlist for Wimbledon if she didn’t think she would be physically ready? She looked very relaxed in her amazing doubles streak with Ons Jabeur in Eastbourne and will be the player everyone will want to avoid having to play early.
On the receiving end of our top floater is the unlucky Harmony Tan. Good luck to her! R64: Sorribes Tormo (32) R32: Karolina Plíšková (6) R16: Coco Gauff (11)
2. Katie Boulter (UK)
25 years old Currently ranked: 127 Best Wimbledon result: Round of 64 (2018,2021)
Home advantage can make players fly. We already saw a few prime examples of this at Roland Garros with some French players upsetting in the first round and Katie Boulter will be hoping for a similar surprise in her first match. She comes off a good streak with wins over last year’s Wimbledon finalist Pliskova and Allison Riske before barely losing to an in-form Kvitova. Grass players on a roll are always dangerous and all the Brits will be cheering her on. One to look out for for sure!
Katie Boulter has been paired with Clara Burel in the first round R64: Karolina Plíšková (6) who has to be very unhappy with her draw
R32: Sara Sorribes Tormo (32) R16: Coco Gauff (11)
3. Alison van Uytvanck (Belgium)
28 years old
Currently ranked: 46
Best Wimbledon result: Round of 16 (2018)
It feels like van Uytvanck has been around forever but she is only turned 28 in March and has been playing some of her best tennis in years recently. She won her first grass ITS in Surbiton, then moved on with a good run in famous tongue twister ‘s Hertogenbosch, beating fellow Belgian Mertens on the way to suffering a very hard-fought loss to Aryna Sabalenka. But Alison didn’t need much time to recover from this loss. She went to Gaiba and claimed another title without dropping a single set. She has been playing very consistent and serving well, winning 86% of her first serve points in the Gaiba final against Errani. Can she continue her hot form?
The British favorite Emma Raducanu has been given the toughest of draws with van Uytvanck in round 1. This is a must watch for sure! R64: Caroline Garcia R32 Madison Keys (19)
4. Zhang Shuai (China)
33 years old Currently ranked: 41 Best Wimbledon result: Quarter Final (2019)
Doubles players tend to do well on grass and Shuai Zhang is one of the best doubles players in the world, ranking #4 currently. She just won the doubles title in Nottingham and reached the final in Birmingham. But it’s not just her excellent doubles form that drew our attention. She recently reached the Birmingham final, defeating Cirstea and Yastremska on the way to the final against Haddad Maia where she sadly had to retire due to an injury. We hope she can attend the tournament fully fit and the retirement was only a precaution because she has been in form all year with the clay title in Lyon as the highlight so far.
Another stellar first round matchup with Zhang Shuai versus Elena Rybakina (17). Chances of an upset are big!
R64: Bianca Andreescu (wow, another one to watch!) R32: Garbine Muguruza (9)
5. Qinwen Zheng (China)
19 years old Currently ranked: 53 Best Wimbledon result: first time playing Wimbledon Qinwen Zheng is one of many young Chinese players climbing the rankings. A loss less experienced than Zhang Shuai, but packing a lot of energy and tenacity. She almost brought us the biggest upset of the year, taking a set of the Queen, Iga Swiatek, before suffering menstrual cramps which lead to her game collapsing. Since then she hasn’t played many grass matches but she did win the Valencia title after Roland Garros and if you can come close to beating the player dominating the tour you have what it takes to surprise anyone in the first round.
Owner of the picture: wtatennis.com
Qinwen is facing Sloane Stephens in the first round. This should be another banger! R64: Garbine Muguruza (9) R32: Elena Rybakina (17) or Zhang/Andreescu So these are our picks for the most dangerous floaters in the Ladies draw. Who do you think could cause the biggest upset? Let us know in the poll below!
Who is going to cause the biggest upset in the tournament?
- Serena Williams
- Katie Boulter
- Alison van Uytvanck
- Zhang Shuai
We hope you enjoyed our unseeded players preview and are looking forward to the first round matches as much as we are. Stay tuned for more articles and hopefully we see you soon in one of our play-by-play’s during Wimbledon.