Wimbledon Women's draw sees early upsets: Gauff, Zheng and Badosa among ten seeded players out

Wednesday, 02 July 2025 at 03:00

The Wimbledon women's main draw has suffered significant losses in the first round of the tournament, with a total of 10 of the 32 seeds already out, including four top-10 players. Americans Coco Gauff (No. 2) and Jessica Pegula (No. 3) were key protagonists this Tuesday, being eliminated in the afternoon, joining Paula Badosa (No. 9) and Zheng Qinwen.

The draw is quickly clearing up for some, with Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva potentially benefiting, looking to reach the later rounds while avoiding higher-ranked players. Other big names eliminated include Karolina Muchova, Jelena Ostapenko, and Marta Kostyuk.

First Quarter

This section of the draw saw few surprises. The elimination of the 32nd seed McCartney Kessler is not too surprising, falling to the 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova, who is in great form in recent weeks and just won the Berlin Ladies Open title—stringing together 6 consecutive wins on grass.

The other seeded player eliminated in the first quarter is world No. 10 Paula Badosa, who was in the process of recovering from an injury suffered at the Berlin Ladies Open two weeks prior. The Spaniard had a tough draw against local Katie Boulter and ultimately lost a three-set battle to a grass-court specialist like Boulter.

Second Quarter

World No. 6 Zheng Qinwen was surprised early in the day by Czech Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 and once again leaves Wimbledon without success. Siniakova avoided an all-Asian clash and will now face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. Another big name eliminated was former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko (20th seed), who fell in three sets to local Sonay Kartal (7-5, 2-6, 6-2). The path seems somewhat easier for Russia's Diana Shnaider, who could potentially reach the quarterfinals without facing any top-30 players along the way.

Third Quarter

World No. 3 Jessica Pegula had a forgettable performance against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, falling 2-6, 3-6, clearing up a section of the draw. Also in this area, 27th seed Magda Linette said goodbye, losing to qualifier Elsa Jacquemot 7-6(1), 1-6, 4-6.

Also eliminated in this section of the draw was former Roland Garros finalist Karolina Muchova (15th seed), who lost to Xinyu Wang. The names gaining momentum after these exits are 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and former world No. 4 Belinda Bencic.

Fourth Quarter

Perhaps the most significant casualty in the first round was Coco Gauff, defeated by Dayana Yastremska 7-6, 6-1. The world No. 2 had just been crowned champion of her second Grand Slam at Roland Garros and seemed a favorite to contest the title against Sabalenka again. However, her exit leaves a void in the draw that could be exploited by players like Sofia Kenin (28th seed) or Daria Kasatkina (16th seed).

At the same time, Marta Kostyuk (26th seed) fell to qualifier Veronika Erjavec. Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina remain favorites in the bottom half of the draw and could potentially meet in a fourth-round clash.