The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.
A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.
At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.
Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.
Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.
With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.
How to watch Wimbledon this weekend
While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.
Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.
Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.
The third Grand Slam of 2025 is officially underway, as the world's top tennis stars hit the grass courts in London for the annual Wimbledon Championships on Monday.
World No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková enters as the Slam's reigning champion, with all of the WTA's current Top 10 — none of whom have ever won at Wimbledon — looking to dethrone the 2024 victor.
No. 3 Jessica Pegula looks to be an early frontrunner, as the US star picked up steam following her defeat of No. 4 Iga Świątek 6-4, 7-5 in Saturday's championship match of the 2025 Bad Homburg Open, a Wimbledon tune-up tournament.
A 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinalist, Pegula has already earned three titles this year, gaining significant momentum as she hunts a career-first Grand Slam trophy.
"[Pegula has] an amazing game, and showed it throughout the tournament," Świątek said following Saturday's loss. "Hopefully, we will have many more finals together."
The first day of 2025 Wimbledon action saw No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka cruise through her first-round match against Canada's No. 194 Carson Branstine in straight sets, while No. 8 Madison Keys battled to a narrow three-set victory over Romania's No. 58 Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova played the most dominant first-round match of the Slam, ousting Kazakhstan's No. 33 Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-0 to open her tournament run.
Italy's No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, a 2024 Wimbledon finalist, also kicked off her 2025 run with a win, downing Latvia's No. 402 Anastasija Sevastova in three sets on Monday afternoon.
Pegula will open her campaign against Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto on the second day of first-round action at 6 AM ET, with Świątek, 2025 French Open champ No. 2 Coco Gauff, and 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinalist No. 10 Emma Navarro also rounding out Tuesday's bill.
How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
The 2025 Wimbledon women's tournament runs through the July 12th championship.
Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.
The WTA Tour's biggest names are prepping for a challenge, eyeing next Monday's start of the Wimbledon Grand Slam while watching the sport's dark horses dominate the grass court.
Wimbledon's 2023 champ Markéta Vondroušová stole the spotlight this weekend, as the injury-plagued Czech pro earned her first title in two years at the 2025 Berlin Open.
Even more, the world No. 91 player claimed the trophy in style, taking down top tennis stars like world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 6 Madison Keys, and No. 12 Diana Shnaider en route to besting China's No. 33 Wang Xinyu in Sunday's back-and-forth three-set final.
"I feel like it could not have been better for us here," the 25-year-old said after the win. "We were all working really hard to get me back [from an August 2024 shoulder surgery] and I felt like, you know, we came here to try to win the first match and now this is happening. So I'm just very grateful to be standing here."
Vondroušová will look to ride the weekend's momentum to a potential second Wimbledon trophy, a title that has so far eluded every player currently ranked in the WTA's Top 10 — including Sabalenka, No. 2 Coco Gauff, and No. 8 Iga Świątek.
Of the sport's current elite tier of players, only Italy's No. 4 Jasmine Paolini has appeared in the London Grand Slam's final, falling to Czechia's No. 17 Barbora Krejčíková in the 2024 title match.
The highest-ranked previous Wimbledon champion is Kazakhstan's No. 11 Elena Rybakina, who hoisted the trophy in 2022.
Wimbledon is leveling up, as the annual London-based Grand Slam announced Thursday that it's increasing its purse by 7% across the board in 2025, pushing the total prize money to £53.5 million ($72.59 million) ahead of tennis tournament's June 30th kick-off.
Both the 2025 women's and men's singles champions will earn winner's checks in the amount of £3 million ($4.07 million) — an 11.1% increase over the amount won by 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková.
With increases across all Slam events, from singles and doubles to wheelchair competitions, even athletes who stumble early will see a raise over last year's competition.
For example, singles players ousted in this year's first round will take home 10% more than in 2024, earning deposits of £66,000 ($89,530).
The 2025 total purse now doubles the prize money offered by the tournament a decade ago, and makes Wimbledon the biggest potential payday across all four of the sport's Grand Slams.
"We're immensely proud of the fact that, if you look back 10 years, you can see the increase over that period and 7% this year," said All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club chair Deborah Jevans. "And we have listened to the players, we have engaged with the players."