The wildcards were announced for Wimbledon 2026 on Wednesday, and we know at this time who some of the most notable tennis players are who have wildcards. They are three-time grand slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Lausanne, Switzerland, three-time grand slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov of Haskovo, Bulgaria and 2026 French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska of Miechow, Poland.
The selection of Wawrinka should not come as too much of a surprise. That is because he plans to retire at the end of the tennis season. Currently 41 years of age, Wawrinka won the 2014 Australian Open (beat Rafael Nadal of Spain in the final, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3), the 2015 French Open (beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4), and the 2016 United States Open (beat Djokovic in the final, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3).
Dimitrov reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2014 (lost to Djokovic, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6), of the Australian Open in 2017 (lost to Nadal, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4) and of the United States Open in 2019 (lost to Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3). However, injuries have took its toll on Dimitov in recent tournaments, and it has been challenging for him to complete matches.
Chwalinska saw her world ranking skyrocket from 114th to 21st in the world based on her latest grand slam success. What is strange and bizarre with Chwalinska’s story is that she is seeded and was granted a wildcard. The reason why Chwalinska was given a wildcard is because Wimbledon sets the players who go to the main draw six weeks before the tournament commences. She is only the third women’s player in grand slam tennis history to be given a wildcard as a seeded player. The other two are Martina Hingis of Switzerland (2002 United States Open), and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland (2004 Wimbledon) according to Arthur Millot of Tennis Temple.
