15 of the 16 singles wild cards for the 2025 Wimbledon Championships were announced, and the tournament's approach has caused some controversy.
All four Grand Slams give many of their wild cards to home players who would either need to go through qualifying or whose ranking may not be high enough to even enter the qualifying stage.
11 of the 16 2025 Roland Garros wild cards were French. Former champion Stan Wawrinka, Emilio Nava, Tristan Schoolkate, Iva Jovic, and Destanee Aiava were the only wild cards from other countries.
In previous years, Wimbledon has sometimes provided the most balance by picking a combination of local players, former champions, and exciting young talents from other countries that the event deemed worthy of an opportunity.
However, the tournament organizers have taken a more straightforward approach this year. Only one of the 15 announced wild cards is from outside the United Kingdom, with every other place being given to Brits.
Petra Kvitova was the only player not born in the United Kingdom to receive a wild card. She won the 2011 and 2014 women's singles at SW19, defeating Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard in the finals.
The Czech has not been to the quarterfinal in her eight appearances since triumphing in 2014. But the organizers understandably feel she deserves a chance to appear again at the iconic tournament because of her past achievements.
Kvitova returned to tennis in February after over a year away on maternity leave. She has played in seven tournaments but only managed one match win, against Irina-Camelia Begu at the 2025 Italian Open.
The 35-year-old's performances have actually been better than the results indicate. Four of her losses were 4-6 in the deciding set, indicating that Kvitova is close to turning defeats into victories once her level improves after getting more match practice.
Harriet Dart was among the seven British women handed wild cards for Wimbledon. She has endured a challenging season and generated attention for saying Roland Garros semifinalist Lois Boisson should wear deodorant because she smelled really bad.
Mingge Xu could be an interesting player to watch. The 17-year-old is very talented and easily defeated Katie Volynets, who pushed Barbora Krejcikova in the second round of her run to the 2024 Wimbledon title, at the 2025 Nottingham Open.
The other women's wild cards are Jodie Burrage, Francesca Jones, Hannah Klugman, Heather Watson, and Mika Stojsavljevic. Watson reached the fourth round at SW19 in 2022.
On the men's side, 35-year-old Daniel Evans was one of seven men handed a wild card. He has been to the third round of his home tournament three times and showed what he can still do by beating Frances Tiafoe at the 2025 Queen's Club Championships.
Johannus Monday will make his first Grand Slam main draw appearance at Wimbledon. He has never been to an ATP Challenger Tour final, making his inclusion over some other players somewhat controversial.
The other men's wild cards are Jay Clarke, Oliver Crawford, Jack Pennigton Jones, Henry Searle, and George Loffhagen. The eighth and final place has yet to be determined.
Many talented players could have been handed some of the wild-card slots. For example, Victoria Mboko, one of the most exciting WTA talents in the sport, could be enthralling to watch on grass. The Canadian will attempt to come through qualifying.
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