The 2025 Wimbledon tournament is now underway as the stars of the women’s game battle it out for grass-court supremacy.
Several big names will be in with a chance of winning Wimbledon in 2025, none bigger than the world’s top two players, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.
The pair contested the previous Grand Slam final, when Gauff beat Sabalenka to clinch the Roland Garros title in June.
Neither player has reached a Wimbledon final so far, although many expect them to do so for the first time in 2025.
That’s not to say everyone is backing them, however, as former world number nine Andrea Petkovic believes both players could suffer early exits at the All England Club.
Andrea Petkovic picks Marketa Vondrousova to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of Wimbledon
During the latest edition of the Becker Petkovic podcast, Petkovic named the player she believes will knock Sabalenka out of Wimbledon.
“So I have my theory, I believe that [Aryna] Sabalenka, if [Marketa] Vondrousova survives the first round against [McCartney] Kessler, because that is not so easy, I believe that Sabalenka will lose against Vondrousova again in the third round,” she said.
“I believe that will open up the draw for [Elina] Svitolina, who will somehow make it to the semi-finals.
“Unfortunately, I believe that [Jasmine] Paolini will lose to [Linda] Noskova in the third round.
“And I believe that Qinwen Zheng, who is seeded five in the lower half of the top half, I believe she will lose to [Katerina] Siniakova in the first round. I believe there will be quite a lot of chaos again.”
Sabalenka is set to take on Czechia’s Marie Bouzkova in the second round, while Vondrousova plays Britain’s Emma Raducanu.
Petkovic believes the 2023 champion will beat both Raducanu and Sabalenka en route to the fourth round, where she thinks Svitolina will get the better of Vondrousova.
The German doesn’t think there will be quite so many upsets in the bottom half of the draw, although there is one player she’s pencilling in for a shock defeat.
“I think it’s going to be carnage at the top, and at the bottom, the only exception I see is [Coco] Gauff, who might even have problems in the first round against Dayana Yastremska,” said Petkovic.
“It’s going to be tough in the third round against Sofia Kenin, because Kenin has already beaten her at Wimbledon on the grass. She plays well on grass. I think it’s going to be difficult for Gauff.
“For all the other seeds in the bottom half, I think they’ll get through relatively easily.”
Petkovic went on to explain why she’s predicting ‘carnage’ at Wimbledon in the women’s draw.
“When you’re down a set and a break, that’s already c— on hard courts, on clay courts, but on grass, you absolutely panic,” she said.
“The first three days on grass, in the women’s locker room, everyone would give anything for it to be best of five sets.
“I think you know how it feels when you get off to a bad start on grass, it doesn’t feel good, because it’s so much harder to find your rhythm. Then when you open your eyes, it’s already 2-6, 0-3, with a break.
“Then, of course, you panic, whereas in best-of-five, you still have a bit of time to find your way back.”
Petkovic claimed everyone in the women’s locker room would be in favor of best-of-five matches during the first few days of Wimbledon, although that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Aryna Sabalenka isn’t in favor of best-of-five matches at Wimbledon
One of the players Petkovic is predicting to lose early at Wimbledon, in part thanks to the best-of-three-sets format, was recently asked whether she believes women should play best-of-five.
During her post-match press conference, Sabalenka said women aren’t ‘ready’ for best-of-five set matches.
“I’m not ready to play five sets. I think it’s too much on the woman’s body,” she said.
“We are not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the number of injuries. So this isn’t something I would consider.”
The debate over whether women should play five-set matches has been around for decades, although it doesn’t look like a change will be made anytime soon.
Sabalenka will now focus on her second-round match, where she’ll play Bouzkova on Wednesday, July 2.
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