Wimbledon

Draw me like one of your French girls

Jun 26, 2026

Dear tennis lovers,

It‘s finally Pimm‘s time again, a popular drink during and around Wimbledon that tastes like iced tea (why wouldn’t it, we’re in England) but hits like gin. And not only that, it’s also the time of year when everyone suddenly starts raving about strawberries even though we surely agree that their best time lies in the past (springtime strawberries > summertime strawberries).

While most of us haven‘t quite gotten over the French Open yet, the most prestigious tournament of all already rears its pretty head. Grab your tallest hat and your most pastel dress, settle in with okay not great strawberries and a glass of champagne if you‘re royal, a glass of Pimm‘s if you‘re not and let‘s have a look at the draw together.

The most interesting part of the draw is always the one where your personal fave has fallen into and I fully support your love for Mariano Navone and Tamara Korpatsch. I will, however, focus on two particular parts of Wimbledon‘s 2026 women‘s and men‘s dysfunctional family trees. The one where Serena Williams has planted her roots and the only other match that matters which is: Taylor Swiftz in his single era against Jawline Draper.

While attention in the women‘s draw would have always been mostly on Serena‘s comeback, she also happens to be in the most fascinating little section. This shouldn‘t come as a surprise. Serena has always had a knack for drama so why should it be different in her comeback?

Serena Williams plays 20-year-old Aussie Maya Joint in her first round but looming on the horizon is a possible second round encounter with Alex Eala who will only have a tired smirk of recognition for the media circus that will accompany every step Serena takes on the holy grounds of SW19. If Williams survives youth and first round nerves, if her media hurricane beats Eala‘s media storm, she would get defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round. Ah, how I missed Serena‘s unique ability to turn breakfast into an HBO worthy script.

Of course, Iga needs to get to the third round first. She got Taylor Townsend in her opening match. Serena‘s penchant for drama is Iga‘s questionable talent to always attract the hardest draw. She doesn‘t like playing Jelena Ostapenko? The universe will make sure to place her in Iga‘s vicinity. She‘s lost to Rybakina a few times on hard courts? Guaranteed the next higher seed in Swiatek’s quarter will be Elena.

Nothing‘s guaranteed in sports, you will say now and you‘re right, except that the players Iga‘s recently lost to will land in her half. That‘s as certain as the moon in the sky.

What can we expect from Serena? I‘d say: Expect nothing, prepare for everything. That is not only sound advice when it comes to watching tennis in general and Serena‘s comeback in particular, it is also great life advice. Expect nothing, prepare for everything.

Will Iga defend her title? Not no. While I understand that people are concerned about her confidence and recent results and don’t see her going far, especially with a tough draw on her hands, I do feel like she’s one great match away from breaking a mental barrier that has slowly set itself into place. That mental barrier is like a soaring dune deposited by opposing winds blowing from multiple directions carrying old and new sand, rocks and sediments, and can only be fought with great resilience.

I also have my eyes on the Emma Navarro and Paula Badosa first round encounter, as well as a side eye glance towards Jessica Pegula. The women’s draw this year is as open as gas stations when the oil price rises. Why not Jess this time? Why not.

On the men’s side, we have a Stan Wawrinka and Matteo Berrettini first round match-up and I’m sure everyone will look to gauge Jannik Sinner’s personal heat index but the only match anyone should care about is the Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper one. One of the best grass court players in the world, Taylor, faces a should-be Top 10 player ridden by injuries, Jack. In a way, this could be the only time in Jack Draper’s life where he will play Wimbledon without pressure. He’s coming back from injury, he’s playing last year’s semifinalist, many eyeballs will be on his coach Andy Murray. And those eyeballs directed at possibly the only knight in history sitting in a tennis player’s box, guess what, they can’t look two ways at the same time.

Andy Murray was always able to create some distance between himself as a Scot and what the British as a whole expected of him at Wimbledon. Jack is a London boy. There is no distance. He feels every ounce of pressure on his neck, head and shoulders whenever he steps foot on the grass courts of The All England Club. It could be different this time. He “only” has to get through Taylor Fritz first. Yikes, it could’ve been easier.

May we have the best Wimbledon yet! My favourite major formula is: 200 grams of talent, 200 grams of star power, add a dash of chaos and stir frequently. Enjoy!

Things that make me happy

The World Cup has sucked me in again with all its terrible haircuts, too many teams and games and the obvious cash grabs. When you see the Scots at a Baseball game in Boston, 70.000 Bosnians singing at the top of their lungs or Ecuador celebrate a win over Germany as if they won the World Cup itself, you can’t help but love it all if you have a heart.

Things that make me unhappy

We are living through an insane heatwave in Germany right now and we as the continent of Europe unfortunately do not believe in air conditioning. As you might imagine, we are more of a cold-blooded nation here so this is grinding our nerves and the loss to Ecuador sure doesn’t help. I’ve been sleeping in my downstairs living room because it has been too hot to sleep upstairs for five days already. Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day of the week. Good luck to us all!

Grab your Pimm’s and count the days, turn on the cold air in my stead and hold me in your thoughts when that cool whiff grabs you and shakes you awake. This could be us, AC, but you have always loved to play games with me.

Yours truly, Andrea