Teodora Kostić will make her Grand Slam debut against Aryna Sabalenka in the first round of Wimbledon, a draw that puts the 19-year-old qualifier straight into the deepest end of the sport. Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and the favorite to win Wimbledon, enters as a -7000 betting favorite.
Kostić earned the match by advancing through qualifying, then made plain she wanted this test. “Let’s see if she can deal with my power,” she said after qualifying, adding, “Of course I can beat her.” She also said, “I can beat anybody when I’m in the zone,” a statement that sounds bold only until a player has survived qualifying and arrives on a Grand Slam stage for the first time.
The matchup matters because Sabalenka has the pedigree of a top seed without the Wimbledon title to match it. She has reached the semifinals in her last three Wimbledon appearances, but she has never made the final at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. She also skipped Wimbledon in 2024 and 2022, leaving her with a record that is strong enough to terrify most opponents and incomplete enough to keep the pressure on.
That is what gives this first-round meeting its edge. Sabalenka was the runner-up at the Australian Open this year and lost in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, so she comes to Wimbledon with major results already behind her in 2025 and the burden of expectation intact. Kostić, meanwhile, arrives with nothing to lose and a place in the draw she had to win through qualifying. On paper, the gap is enormous. In practice, Sabalenka still has to serve first.
The question now is not whether Kostić believes she belongs. She said she does. The question is whether her power can make this one of those opening rounds that changes how a young player is seen the moment the match is over.
