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Which players will miss Wimbledon and will Nadal, Federer, Serena and Raducanu play?

Wimbledon aerial view

It will be fascinating to see which players make it to Wimbledon this year, with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams have all had decisions to make.

It's fair to say it has not been the best few years for Wimbledon. The tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 and this year it is beset by controversy.
Officials have decided to ban Russian and Belarussian players because of the events in Ukraine, and the WTA and ATP have responded by stripping the tournament of its ranking points.
That means an already weakened field is now much less attractive to the rest, so where do we currently stand in terms of players who won't be at Wimbledon this year?

Missing men

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev will almost certainly be the world number one when Wimbledon starts but he is one of the players affected by the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. Unless there is a major change in policy, he won't be playing Wimbledon.

Alexander Zverev

With Medvedev missing, Alexander Zverev would have been the top seed in the men's draw. However, he suffered a nasty injury in his French Open semi-final defeat to Rafael Nadal and has since undergone ankle surgery leaving his hopes of making it to the US Open looking relatively slim, never mind Wimbledon.

Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev is the second Russian man in the top ten of the ATP world rankings. He has just reached a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time at Roland Garros.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer is Wimbledon royalty - perhaps the Wimbledon royalty - but his persistent knee injury means he won't be at SW19 this time. He has earmarked the Laver Cup in September for his comeback.

Karen Khachanov

Karen Khachanov has been in the top 25 for a while now and even made a brief breakthrough into the top ten before messing with his rackets messed with his game. He is Russian, so he's out.

Aslan Karatsev

Aslan Karatsev is a former Australian Open semi-finalist who has managed to stick around inside the top 50 since that breakthrough in 2021. He is also Russian, so won't be allowed to compete.

Missing women

Venus Williams

Like sister Serena, Venus Williams is not on the entry listand she has confirmed she won't be seeking a wild card like sister Serena either.

Aryna Sabalenka

World number six Aryna Sabalenka is the highest-ranked WTA player affected by the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. She was a semi-finalist last year, so that will come as a huge blow to her.

Victoria Azarenka

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka is also banned due to her nationality. She is a two-time Grand Slam winner and two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached the French Open final in 2021 but she won't be at Wimbledon. Even if they reversed the decision to let Russians play, Pavlyuchenkova has a season-ending knee injury.

Daria Kasatkina

Current Russian number one Daria Kasatkina obviously also won't be there. The world number 12 was a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2018.

Liudmila Samsonova

Liudmila Samsonova is also affected by the ban on Russians, although the world number 28 has never been beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam anyway.

Veronika Kudermetova

Veronika Kudermetova's absence due to her nationality won't really be seismic in terms of the singles, although she is the world number 4 in doubles and was a finalist in that draw at Wimbledon last year.

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka confirmed she will not take part in Wimbledon this year as a result of an Achilles injury.

The 24-year-old previously hinted at skipping Wimbledon due to the grand slam being stripped of ranking points. Nevertheless, she will now set her sights on recovery from injury.

Eugenie Bouchard

Former world number five Eugenie Bouchard has decided to pull out of this summer's Wimbledon due to the removal of ranking points.
The 28-year-old is looking to maximise her use of protected ranking entries following her shoulder surgery last year.

Ones to watch

Andy Murray

Andy Murray appeared to be cruising towards Wimbledon, but he suffered an injury in the final of Stuttgart. That's the bad news. The good news is that it is not a recurrence of his hip problem, and he has said he is 'hopeful' he will be okay for SW19.

Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu is having a rough year with niggling injries, and she is now a major doubt for Wimbledon. She retired injured in her opening match in Nottingham and admits she has 'no idea' if he will be able to recover in time for SW19. 

Jannik Sinner

There is no question that Jannik Sinner is one of the top young talents on the ATP Tour, but he is having a wretched time with injury this year. He hobbled out of the French Open in the quarter-finals with a knee injury and has now pulled out of Halle too. With no ranking points on offer, there looks a legitimate chance Sinner will decide to skip the grass season altogether to focus on regainingn his fitness.

Will Rafael Nadal play Wimbledon?

Doubts have existed over Rafael Nadal and Wimbledon ever since he won the French Open earlier this month. Early reports from Spain said no, Rafa himself said may be, but that has now changed to a nice big YES.
Nadal has a degenerative foot condition and he said he would need to get the pain under control if he was going to play Wimbledon. Ten days ahead of the tournament, he confirmed he most recent treatment has been successful so he will be heading to SW19.

Will Serena Williams play Wimbledon?

Serena Williams has not played since Wimbledon 2021 when she retired injured against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. She has reveived a wild card to play Wimbledon, so she will be back for another go this time.
She will be playing in the doubles at Eastbourne first, though, so keep your fingers crossed there are no injury issues.

Will Novak Djokovic play Wimbledon?

Djokovic is the defending champion and his vaccination stance will not prevent him from getting into the UK, so he is good to go.
Expect to see him at Wimbledon, and expect him to be extremely motivated and very hard to stop.

READ MORE: Tim Henman reveals how far French Open champion Rafael Nadal can go at Wimbledon

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