Meet the 21 British players at Wimbledon: ‘It’s been a dream since I started playing’ Jamie BraidwoodFri, June 26, 2026 at 5:51 AM UTC 0 Oliver Tarvet, the world No 349, qualified for Wimbledon for the second consecutive year (PA Archive) Emma Raducanu 30th seed | Age: 23 | world ranking: 32 Former US Open champion and British No 1. Reached the third round last year, losing to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a thriller on Centre Court.
Meet the 21 British players at Wimbledon: ‘It’s been a dream since I started playing’
Jamie BraidwoodFri, June 26, 2026 at 5:51 AM UTC
0
Oliver Tarvet, the world No 349, qualified for Wimbledon for the second consecutive year (PA Archive)
Emma Raducanu - 30th seed | Age: 23 | world ranking: 32
Former US Open champion and British No 1. Reached the third round last year, losing to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a thriller on Centre Court. Back working with coach Andrew Richardson, who was part of her team for her US Open victory, and enjoyed a promising run to the Queen's final, though pre-Wimbledon optimism has been dampened by reports of Raducanu missing training sessions and wearing a protective boot.
Emma Raducanu leaving the practice courts ahead of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London. Picture date: Monday June 22, 2026. (PA)
Katie Boulter | Age: 29 | WR: 59
Bouncing back after a disappointing 2025 season, the former world No 23 reached the semi-finals at Queen's and secured the best win of her career by beating No 2 Elena Rybakina. Can play some of her best tennis on the grass, if she gets her aggressive style of play going. Yet to progress past the third round of a grand slam.
(Getty)
Fran Jones | Age: 25 | WR: 103
The 25-year-old enjoyed a momentous first-round win at last month's French Open, for her first grand slam victory. Ahead of her fourth appearance at Wimbledon, Jones, who is from Yorkshire but grew up in Barcelona, does not want to be defined by her Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia, a genetic condition that means she only has three fingers and a thumb on each hand and seven toes across both feet. As a child, Jones' parents were told by doctors that she would not be able to play tennis. Now, her work-rate and dedication to improve shines through as Jones aims to return to the world's top 100, following a difficult year where she retired from the first-round of the Australian Open and suffered a freak gym accident in another scary injury set-back.
(Getty)
Harriet Dart - wildcard | Age: 29 | WR: 151
At 29, Dart will be making her eighth appearance in the Wimbledon main draw. Now ranked 151st in singles, she stood up for Great Britain in April when, deprived of Raducanu and Boulter, she led Anne Keovathong's side to an away victory against Australia to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup finals. Dart won in both singles and doubles, and last week won her first tour-level title in doubles alongside Maia Lumsden to win the Nottingham Open.
(Getty)
Alicia Dudeney - wildcard | Age: 23 | WR: 246
Dudeney, 23, has climbed almost 900 ranking spots in the past year and will be making her Wimbledon debut. Ranked 246 in the world, Dudeney has won four titles on the World Tennis Tour (the level below the WTA) this season, which included a 13-match winning streak between March and April. From Hove, where she played at the same club as Sonay Kartal, she spent four years at the University of Florida between 2021 and 2025.
Alicia Dudeney will make her Wimbledon debut next week (Getty)
Hannah Klugman - wildcard | Age: 17 | WR: 412
Has been signalled as one to watch ever since becoming the first British woman to win the Orange Bowl, a prestigious junior tournament in Florida, as a 14-year-old in 2023. A US Open girls' semi-finalist last September, Klugman, now 17, will be making her second appearance at Wimbledon. Reached No 1 in the junior rankings before turning pro in January, and scored her first win on the WTA by beating Harriet Dart in Nottingham.
(Getty)
Mika Stojsavljevic - wildcard | Age: 17 | WR: 276
The 17-year-old won the US Open girls' title in 2024, then reached the semi-finals in 2025, and will be making her second Wimbledon main draw appearance after last year's debut. Made a brilliant debut for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier away to Australia where she upset Talia Gibson - an opponent ranked more than 200 places above her. The London-born Stojsavljevic chose English literature and politics for her A-Levels and studied while on tour.
(PA)
Katie Swan - wildcard | Age: 27 | WR: 196
After almost giving up tennis due to long-term injuries and losing her ranking, Swan only began her comeback in April 2025 but will now be playing at Wimbledon for the first time in three years. This will be the 27-year-old Swan's seventh Wimbledon appearance and will feel extra special after battling from the brink of retirement to return to the world's top 200.
Katie Swan plays at Wimbledon in 2023 (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Archive)
Mimi Xu - wildcard | Age: 18 | WR: 327
The Swansea-born Xu became the first Welsh player to enter the Wimbledon singles draw in 20 years when she played Emma Raducanu in the first round last year. At 18, Xu has since won the biggest title of her career in front of her home crowd at the Wrexham Open, beating Mika Stojsavljevic in the final. Xu and Stojsavljevic were runners-up in the 2024 Wimbledon girls' doubles.
(Getty)
Cameron Norrie - 26th seed | Age: 30 | WR: 29
So often the last Brit standing at grand slams, Norrie retired from his first-round match at the French Open, the just the second time in his professional career, while suffering with a rib injury but returned to Queen's and is set to be fit for Wimbledon. A former semi-finalist at SW19, Norrie, 30, returns as a seed after almost falling outside of the top-100 last year, finding form late in the season as he beat No 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz, left, ended Cameron Norrie's impressive Wimbledon run (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)
Jack Draper | Age: 24 | WR: 160
Advertisement
Was seeded fourth at Wimbledon 12 months ago after winning the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells but returns after a year of injury hell ranked outside the top 100. Struggles with an arm injury were followed by a knee injury, meaning the 24-year-old has only played nine matches this season before his comeback at Eastbourne. But Draper is back with a legend in his corner: new coach Andy Murray. "He's bloody good," was Murray's early assessment.
Jack Draper celebrates reaching the Eastbourne semi-finals (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)
Jan Choinski | Age: 30 | WR: 106
The German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, switched nationalities in 2019 and received his first Wimbledon wildcard in 2023. After losing in the first round of qualifying last year, he returns to Wimbledon as only the third male direct entrant. His run to the quarter-finals at Eastbourne means he will reach a new career-high ranking of 100.
(PA)
Jacob Fearnley - wildcard | Age: 24 | WR: 152
After breaking into the top 50 after a rapid rise a couple of years ago, and taking a set off Novak Djokovic on Centre Court, backing up his breakthrough has been a struggle for the 24-year-old Scot who can claim he beat both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in juniors. He's won only two matches on tour during an injury-hit season and he has dropped out of the top 100.
(Getty)
Arthur Fery - wildcard | Age: 23 | WR: 118
The 23-year-old is enjoying the season of his life after winning a match at the Australian Open as a qualifier and reaching the quarter-finals of Queen's in London. Born in France, his mother was a professional tennis player and his father, Loic Fery, is the owner of Ligue 1 football club FC Lorient.
Arthur Fery celebrates his victory (Getty)
Felix Gill - wildcard | Age: 24 | WR: 220
Making his Wimbledon and grand slam debut at 24, the left-hander arrives at a career-high ranking of 220 after reaching his first Challenger Tour final in Pune, India. His best results have come on clay, which is his favourite surface - unusual for a British player. He was also one win away from qualifying for the French Open last month.
(PA)
Jack Pinnington Jones - wildcard | Age: 23 | WR: 145
Won on his Wimbledon main draw debut last year, beating Tomas Martín Etcheverry as a qualifier, and enjoyed a breakthrough run at the ATP 250 tournament in Dallas where he beat Flavio Cobolli to reach the quarter-finals. His run came close to Texas Christian University, where he followed in the footsteps of Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley by enrolling at the Horned Frogs.
(Reuters)
Toby Samuel - wildcard | Age: 23 | WR: 142
Enjoyed a rapid rise towards the end of 2025, winning 36 of 39 matches on the Challenger Tour, and carried that form into 2026 by qualifying for the main draw of a grand slam for the first time at the French Open. His first-round defeat to seventh seed Alex de Minaur was his first tour-level match. The 23-year-old was previously doubles partners with Athur Fery, and they reached the boys' doubles semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2019.
(Getty)
Harry Wendelken - wildcard | Age: 24 | WR: 203
The 24-year-old qualified for his first tour-level event on home soil at Queen's, beating two top-100 opponents in Adam Walton and Aleksandar Vukic in the process. It came after winning his first ATP Challenger event in Greece last October, doing so as a lucky loser, as well as reaching three Challenger finals since March. Arrives at his Wimbledon and grand slam debut at a career-high ranking of 203 in the world.
(Getty)
Max Basing - qualifier | Age: 23 | WR: 331
Perhaps the Cinderella story of the week. The 23-year-old, who trained at Rafael Nadal's academy in Manacor as a teenager, had previously lost in the first round of qualifying in ATP Challenger events at Birmingham, Ilkley and Nottingham this grass-court season, as well as in the semi-finals of Wimbledon's pre-qualifying event. Granted a wildcard into Wimbledon qualifying anyway, the world No 331 duly won three matches in a row reach the main draw of a grand slam for the first time. Basing's five-set win over Remy Bertola also came just 10 weeks after tearing his hamstring. "It's been a dream of mine since I've started playing tennis," he said.
(Getty)
Billy Harris - qualifier | Age: 31 | WR: 140
The man in a van. Harris spent the early years of his life on the lower-rungs of the tennis tour living in a converted Ford Transit to save money, but made his big breakthrough in 2024 to qualify for Wimbledon and reach his first grand slam main draw. Now 31, Harris has qualified for Wimbledon again and will made his third appearance in a row. Last year, he knocked out Belgium's Zizou Bergs to earn his first win.
(Getty)
Oliver Tarvet - qualifier | Age: 22 | WR: 349
Perhaps the underdog story of last year's tournament last year, when - ranked 773 in the world - he qualified for Wimbledon, won his first-round match, and faced Carlos Alcaraz on Centre Court. The 22-year-old Tarvet has qualified again, and this time he can keep his prize money. Last year, Tarvet was still a student at University of San Diego, so couldn't keep his £99,000 winnings due to NCAA rules. The good news is Tarvet graduated from college last month, so can keep his earnings.
Oliver Tarvet celebrates winning his first-round match (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Archive)
Original Article on Source
Source: "AOL Sports"
Read More
Source: Sports
Published: June 26, 2026 at 09:28AM on Source: RON MAG
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle
Meet the 21 British players at Wimbledon: ‘It’s been a dream since I started playing’ Jamie BraidwoodFri, June 26, 2026 at 5:51 A...
