Serena-Sasnovich, Andreescu-Cornet, Swiatek-Hsieh: Top 5 Women’s First Rounders At Wimbledon

The draw ceremony took place at Wimbledon on Friday morning, and there wasn’t a lot of good news for the top women’s players in the field. Here are five first-round women’s matches to watch:

[6] Serena Williams (USA) vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) [First Meeting]

Serena is again chasing history, trying to tie Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. Wimbledon is tied for her happiest hunting ground: of the 23 she’s won so far, seven of them have come here and seven at the Australian Open (plus six US Opens and three French Opens).

But Serena won’t want to look anywhere past her first-round opponent this fortnight. Sasnovich may be ranked No. 100 right now, but she’s a former No. 30 whose best career run at a Grand Slam came right here in 2018, reaching the fourth round. She took out Petra Kvitova in the first round that year, one of her five career Top 10 wins. Can Sasnovich pull off another surprise against Serena?

[5] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) vs Alize Cornet (FRA) [Cornet leads 1-0]

Having fallen first round as a No. 188-ranked qualifier back in 2017, Andreescu is playing Wimbledon for the first time as a top player this year—a Grand Slam champion currently ranked No. 7.

But her first big shot at the Venus Rosewater Dish could have a rocky start, given she opens against one of the tour’s biggest giant-killers. Cornet has an incredible 21 career wins over Top 10 players, including a very famous one here at Wimbledon when she upset Serena in the third round seven years ago (Serena hasn’t lost before the final here since then). Another one of those 21 Top 10 wins came against Andreescu just 10 days ago, 7-6 (2), 7-5, in the Canadian’s opening match in Berlin.

[7] Iga Swiatek (POL) vs Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) [Swiatek leads 1-0]

Like Cornet, Hsieh is one of the biggest giant-killers on the women’s tour, but she’s been an even bigger threat at the Grand Slams. Four of her eight career Top 10 wins have come at the majors, beating No. 7 Johanna Konta at 2017 Roland Garros, No. 3 Garbine Muguruza at the 2018 Australian Open, then-No. 1 Simona Halep at 2018 Wimbledon and most recently a No. 9-ranked Andreescu in Melbourne this year en route to the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career (at age 35).

The two have only played once before, and while Swiatek won it seemingly routinely in the second round of 2020 Roland Garros, 6-1, 6-4, the Pole didn’t lose more than four games in any set against anyone the entire tournament. Hsieh was actually up 4-1 in that second set.

[10] Petra Kvitova (CZE) vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [Stephens leads 2-1]

There are 15 Grand Slam champions in the women’s draw this year, and it just so happens two of them—2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion Kvitova and 2017 US Open champion Stephens—drew each other in the first round. While Stephens has won two of their three previous meetings, Kvitova did win their last encounter. Though their first grass-court clash probably favors Kvitova, Stephens has been to the quarterfinals once before in 2013.

[1] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) vs Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) [First Meeting]

Suarez Navarro was one of the feel-good stories at Roland Garros, returning to the tour after overcoming her battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Spaniard very nearly won her comeback match, coming within two points of beating Stephens in the first round in Paris. A seven-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and former No. 6, she has definitely come back to play, and with Barty’s injury woes at her last two events—she retired in Rome with an arm injury and at Roland Garros with a hip injury—could this one be more than just a happy return to the All England Club for Suarez Navarro?