WIMBLEDON 2022: Djokovic defends title; Swiatek seeded No. 1

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — A glance at

Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2022:

SURFACE

Grass courts

SITE

The All England Club

SCHEDULE

Play begins Monday at what will now be a scheduled 14-day tournament for the first time, because there will be play on the middle Sunday, traditionally a day of rest. There are no night sessions, unlike at the other three Grand Slam tournaments. The women's singles final is Saturday, July 9; the men's singles final is Sunday, July 10.

SEEDINGS

Iga Swiatek is seeded No. 1 in the women's draw; Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 1 in the men's draw. The seedings follow the WTA and ATP rankings. That is why Serena Williams, who has won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles championships at Wimbledon, is not seeded — her ranking is outside the top 1,200 because she has not played a singles match since a year ago at the All England Club. Djokovic is ranked No. 3, and Rafael Nadal is ranked No. 4, but they moved up to 1-2 in the seedings because the top two men in the rankings, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, are not in the field. Medevev is Russian and all players from that country and Belarus were barred from participating by the All England Club over the war in Ukraine; Zverev tore ligaments in his right ankle at the French Open.

RANKING POINTS

There will be no ranking points awarded for players at Wimbledon this year. The two professional tennis tours made the unprecedented decision to drop points from the event in response to the All England Club's decision to bar players from Russia and Belarus.

2021 WOMEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION

Ash Barty, Australia

2021 MEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION

Novak Djokovic, Serbia

LAST YEAR

Barty claimed the first 14 points of the women's singles final and then held off Karolina Pliskova's comeback to win

for her second Grand Slam title. It was the first Wimbledon women's title match to go three sets since 2012. Barty became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. Barty would go on to earn her third major championship at the Australian Open this January, before suddenly announcing her retirement at age 25 in March. Djokovic beat Matteo Berrettini

for a third consecutive men's singles trophy at Wimbledon, sixth overall, and what, at the time, was a record-tying 20th Grand Slam title, pulling even with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the men's career mark. (Nadal has since added two to his total.)

KEY STATISTICS

35 — Swiatek's current winning streak, which encompasses six tournament titles in a row and is tied for the longest by a woman this century.

22 — Nadal's career total of Grand Slam titles after his victories at this year's Australian Open and French Open, a record for a man and two ahead of Roger Federer, who is still sidelined after a series of knee operations, and Djokovic.

33 — Total number of American players in the women's (18) and men's (15) singles draws, more than any other nation. There are 13 seeds from the U.S.: Seven women (most at Wimbledon since 2004) and six men (most since Grand Slam seedings were expanded to 32 in 2001).

PRIZE MONEY

Total: A record total of 40.3 million pounds (about $50 million) in player compensation includes 38.9 million pounds ($48.8 million) in prize money. The women's and men's singles champions will each earn 2 million pounds ($2.5 million), which is 14.9% less than in 2019, the last pre-pandemic edition of the tournament.

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