British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

JonH · Tennis legend

RE: Race for the Wimbledon wildcards 2026

indiana · Tennis legend

How about they did both MD & Q lists 4 weeks before so players then know if they were at least in qualifying.

But then a revised MD list based on rankings just 2 weeks before which could swap players between MD and Q, rewarding some much more recent surface performances in place of these of a year before. Would surely add something to these now counting tournaments with so much to potentially gain for some players. And for Wimbledon the most recent RG would count instead of the previous year.

Maybe a bit too revolutionary ( impractical in some way(s)? ) but they do at least need to move on from the 6 weeks for the MD.

emmsie69 · Masters Series Champion

Impracitcal because of qualifying the week before, potentially someone could miss out on playing the week before because they planned to be in qualies. 4 weeks for MD and qualifying is reasonable plus maybe one WC to be held back for either the ATP or WTA to award in certain circumstances, ie a rise in the rankings of 50 places or whatever, if noone meets the requirement it goes back to the tournament. It would be great if the criteria would be restricted to those outside of the 4 GS Countries.

Lambda · Grand Slam Champion

wimdledont wrote:
Bonus team player points for Heather for using her SR and saving a Wildcard for A.N.Other.

It remains to be seen if she has saved a wildcard for A.N.Other. I have a feeling the TBD QWC will end up not being used.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Lambda wrote:
wimdledont wrote:
Bonus team player points for Heather for using her SR and saving a Wildcard for A.N.Other.
It remains to be seen if she has saved a wildcard for A.N.Other. I have a feeling the TBD QWC will end up not being used.

Well, Heather has done her bit for the team - if the AELTC f*ck it up, it's not Hev's fault

wimdledont · Challenger level

One clearly couldnt base the final MD/Q split based on the rankings list issued on the eve of qualifying starting. Some players would already be playing qualifying in other tournaments, having assumed that they weren't playing qualifying for the Slam.

But I dont see why not it shouldnt be based on the list from the week preceeding that, for both the MD and qualifying.

So, in the current moment, based on the current official WTA rankings, from 14/6/26, including results from the French Open 26, from Ilkley and Queens 26, and unescapably not including results from Notts and Eastbourne 26.

That sort of timescale is not disimilar to the standard lead-in for lower ranked ITF tournaments, where players often decide their final choices on tournament, based on withdrawals of other players, on a comparable period of notice.

And it doesnt have the random uncertainty of other players withdrawing. Everyone who has a chance woul prefer to be playing Wimbledon. Its just a question of getting out there and winning matches - boosting interest and participation and jeopardy in the lead-up tournaments such as Ilkley and Queens.

JonH · Tennis legend

emmsie69 wrote:
Impracitcal because of qualifying the week before, potentially someone could miss out on playing the week before because they planned to be in qualies. 4 weeks for MD and qualifying is reasonable plus maybe one WC to be held back for either the ATP or WTA to award in certain circumstances, ie a rise in the rankings of 50 places or whatever, if noone meets the requirement it goes back to the tournament. It would be great if the criteria would be restricted to those outside of the 4 GS Countries.

All of the above said, it has worked well enough for the past many years and no one has really lost out, the wild cards should be worked to solve any obvious players who miss out, and perhaps a little more regulation around the wildcards would help eg just 4 or 5 to be allocated to the home federation and 3 or 4 to be enabled via ATP/WTA/ITF in some fashion

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

It's not really a question of whether anyone's missed out or not

It's more a question as to whether it's the top players on that surface at that moment

I don't see why it shouldn't be done normally, like Masters 1000 events and everything else, but taking into account it's a three week event as opposed to a two or one week event, i.e. an extra week needed

sammmm · Lower Club Player

Can we expect to see some Eastbourne wildcards handed out to the Wimbledon doubles wildcard pairs?

the addict · Tennis legend

sammmm wrote:
Can we expect to see some Eastbourne wildcards handed out to the Wimbledon doubles wildcard pairs?

Probably, but I believe there are only two available

PaulM · Tennis legend

Heathers entry has now been converted to WC from PR for qualies.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Lambda wrote:
wimdledont wrote:
Bonus team player points for Heather for using her SR and saving a Wildcard for A.N.Other.
It remains to be seen if she has saved a wildcard for A.N.Other. I have a feeling the TBD QWC will end up not being used.

Well, thankfully it did get used - although not quite in the way expected cry smile cry

indiana · Tennis legend

So Heather now a Q WC and we still have an outstanding MD WC place. Have I got this right?

the addict · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
So Heather now a Q WC and we still have an outstanding MD WC place. Have I got this right?

Checking the official lists (which were updated at lunchtime) there have been 7 MDWC and 5 QWC issued. - so I agree with you.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Doubles entry list now out: www.wimbledon.com/pdf/update/referees/2026/LD_Entries.pdf

Most interesting British pair on the alternates list has to be Fran and EWS which would have been a really fun choice for a wildcard (naturally I am biased). Shame.