Ten years, ten different women’s singles winners at Wimbledon — what’s happening?

The women’s singles draw at the Grand Slams tends to be very different and more exciting than the men’s side of tennis.

In particular, at Wimbledon, the last decade has seen ten different winners emerge in ten editions of the Ladies’ Singles event. This year too witnessed a new champion, with Czech player Linda Nosková winning the coveted Venus Rosewater Dish.

This lack of consistency in the women’s draw also points towards healthier competition, whereas the men’s draw has had a clear pattern, with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic being the familiar winning faces at the Slams in recent years.

With all the previous active winners (Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Barbora Krejcíková) exiting Wimbledon by the third round this year, there was again a chance for a new winner to emerge at the Championships.

The last ten editions’ women’s singles winners at Wimbledon are as follows:

If we compare it to the men’s draw, there’s a clear, more predictable pattern. The last ten editions’ men’s singles winners at Wimbledon are as follows:

The women’s game has been really unpredictable, not just at Wimbledon but also at the other Slams. For context, there have been seven different winners in the last seven Grand Slams in the women’s draw since the 2025 Australian Open: Madison Keys, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva, and Linda Nosková. In contrast, the men’s draw has seen only Sinner and Alcaraz winning Grand Slams in the last two years, with Alexander Zverev’s recent French Open win being an exception.

So, what makes the women’s side of the draw so unpredictable compared to its men’s counterpart?

Difference in format

Women’s and men’s tennis differ in format when it comes to Grand Slams. While men’s singles features a best-of-five-sets format, the women’s singles format is best-of-three.

It’s more challenging to beat a top player in a longer format, as they can find their groove and form and recover from a bad start. Which is why in women’s singles a player has to start really well or recover fairly early, or else it’s game, set, match for the opponent.

Hence, we see so many upsets on the women’s side of the draw. A bad start or lack of focus in one or two games can cost you the match.

Serve dynamics

Another reason the women’s game is unpredictable is the difference in the serve dynamics. Most male players rely on powerful serves to win their service games, as it’s a vital part of their all-round game. Therefore, there are fewer breaks in the men’s game.

In contrast, the women’s game doesn’t have the same number of powerful servers, with the exception of maybe the top ten players; the rest rely more on their playing style. Stronger serves in the men’s game therefore lead to fewer service breaks.

For context, male players serve more aces than their female counterparts and lesser double faults. According to the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) review of the data accrued from the four Grand Slams in 2009, male players hold serve 80–84% of the time, while female players hold serve roughly 65% of the time. This translates into approximately one service break per five games for men and one break per three games for women. Hence, the match becomes more balanced for women’s players instead of being heavily favoured towards a higher-ranked player who can serve consistently well.

Competitive playing field

Men’s tennis has always had a handful of players collecting silverware at the top, thanks to iconic rivalries like those between Björn Borg and John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, as well as the legendary trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, who dominated tennis for decades.

We are experiencing the same with the latest rivalry on the scene, the one between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but the same cannot be said for women’s tennis right now. Although the WTA Tour has witnessed its fair share of domination courtesy of rivalries between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, and the Williams sisters, the current group of players aren’t as consistent, and due to their playing styles being more similar, all top-20-ranked players are well capable of beating each other.

While we have seen the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek sweep up a few Slam titles, there is still a lot of competition in the draw that leads to upsets, unpredictable results, and different winners at each Slam almost every year, making women’s tennis an interesting watch.

Conclusion

We are all aware of the challenges in women’s tennis, and there are both positives and negatives to seeing a different Grand Slam champion each time. On the positive side, the competition remains highly unpredictable and exciting, as it is difficult to identify an overwhelming favourite before the tournament starts. However, this trend also raises questions about the consistency of the top-ranked players, who are usually expected to deliver strong performances on the biggest stage.

With players such as Sabalenka, Swiatek, and Rybakina eliminated in the early rounds, there are also financial implications for the tournament. As some of the sport’s biggest players, they attract bigger crowds and TV audiences. Their early exits can lead to reduced interest and overall viewership.

At the same time, greater unpredictability broadens the competitive landscape, giving more players a genuine opportunity to win Slams, keeping the draw competitive and forcing the top players to continually improve their games and maintain the high standards expected of them.

I can’t lie, though: as a tennis aficionado I enjoy the competition, but it would also be great to see some iconic rivalries crop up similar to the ones from the past decades, and for that, the top women’s tennis players need to up the ante and bring their A-game to the biggest stage.

Neha Johri

A dreamer, an avid fiction reader, a foodie and chai lover, firmly believes in the power of manifestation. In love with everything sport, especially the beautiful game!