After a quiet 2021 with limited fans owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, Wimbledon is back in force this year with a full set of fans, providing us the much-needed taste of top-tier grass-court tennis. However, the Grand slam has been stripped of its ATP and WTA tour ranking points after it decided to ban players from Russia and Belarus.
That although won't disappoint fans as they are all geared up to watch some exciting contests at Mecca of lawn tennis. Also, Novak Djokovic is back to defend his Wimbledon title, and so is Serena Williams. Overall, Wimbledon 2022 is expected to be a great affair. Here's all you need to know and how to watch the tournament online.
Back to Normal
Wimbledon 2022, which will be played from June 27 through July 10, 2022, is expected to have a packed stadium after a gap of two years. However, this year's tournament will be held without Roger Federer for the first time since 1998.
The tennis great hasn't played since losing there in the quarterfinals last year and is still recovering from a knee injury which will keep him out of this year's tournament. Seven-time winner Serena Williams has also been absent from the women's tour since retiring in the first round of Wimbledon last year.
Although she will be playing this year, she definitely isn't among the favorites.
In the men's singles, all eyes will be on defending champion Novak Djokovic as he is will make an effort to avenge his heartbreaking Roland Garros quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. On grass, there are fewer expectations for the Spaniard, but the two-time champion shouldn't be completely written off as a threat.
Something New
The main draw begins June 27 (Monday). This is a slight change this year as the tournament will become a 14-day event for the first time in 2022. Given that organizers are certain that the change won't have an impact on the quality of the surfaces, play will now take place on the middle Sunday of the competition, which has always been set aside as a rest day to work on the condition of the courts.
Main Draw
The player draw is now official, so you can see who is scheduled to play who. Click here
Since Nadal and Djokovic are on opposite sides of the player draw, there is at least a potential that they will play each other in the men's final.
When and Where
All the first-round matches till the Round of 16 for both men and women will be played between 6 am and 4:30 pm EST.
Quarterfinals: The quarterfinals singles for women will be played on July 5, while the men's quarterfinals will be held on July 6. All the matches will be played between 8 am and 3 pm (EST).
Semifinals: The women's semifinal matches will be played on July 7, between 8 am and 1 pm (EST). The men's semifinals will be played on July 8, between 8 am and 2 pm (EST).
Finals: The women's singles final will be played on July 9 between 9 am and 11:30 am. The men's singles final will be played the next day July 10, from 9 am to noon.
Doubles: The doubles championship for men and women will be played on July 9 and 10, respectively, after the respective singles finals. For more details about the timings click here
How to Watch the Matches
UK: BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer will have live action from the tournament from 11 am BST each day, plus there will be up to 18 courts to choose from on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
United States: Tennis fans in the United States can watch the matches live on ESPN. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and the ESPN Plus streaming service will provide coverage of all the matches from the All England Lawn Tennis Club, while ABC will also air several live matches.
ESPN is available through most cable packages as well as some of the best cable TV alternatives, including Sling TV, Fubo.TV, YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV.
The ESPN website as well as several of the top streaming devices offer access to ESPN Plus. Fubo.TV, will also live stream the matches.
Canada: As part of a cable TV subscription, Canadians may watch all the Wimbledon action on TSN (in English) or RSN (in French). If people cut the cord, they can join up for a TSN or RDS streaming subscription for $7.99 (CAD) per day or $19.99 per month if they haven't already.
Australia: Australians can watch live feeds of the 2022 Wimbledon on Channel Nine, thus the major matches will be broadcast on the on-demand service 9Now.
However, 9Now won't feature every match, so you'll need a Stan Sport membership to watch them all without ads and in up to 4K resolution.
India: Select matches will be shown live on Star Sports Network in India via Star Sports Select 1, Star Sports Select 1HD, Star Sport Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2HD channels. The live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.
Besides, the matches can be watched free online from anywhere in the world. To do so you'll need a VPN – two good bets are NordVPN and SurfShark – to get around the geographical blocks put in place on BBC iPlayer – see our best VPNs round-up for more.
