World number one Iga Swiatek will look to get hands on her first Wimbledon title when The Championships begin at the All England Club on Monday.
The 22-year-old Pole had her best result at the event in 2021 when she reached the fourth round but things are a bit different now. For the second year in a row, she enters the tournament as top seed. She has added three more Majors to her resume since that edition.
The trio
Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing at Wimbledon last year following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The lifting of the ban this time means the arrival of Belarusian world number two Aryna Sabalenka who will challenge the likes of Swiatek and defending champion Elena Rybakina.
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Swiatek didn’t face much problems during her title-winning run at the French Open with Sabalenka knocked out in semifinals and Rybakina pulling out of the tournament due to illness.
That might not be the case at the All England Club.
Out of the three, Rybakina, with her net play and drop shots mixed with some double-handed backhand strokes, comes in as a slight favourite. Swiatek will be difficult to handle with a premium all-round game. She is also one of the best returners on the WTA Tour currently. Sabalenka’s powerful strokes from the baseline and strong serve on grass will be a tough task to handle for her opponents.
Queen V is back
Venus Williams likes going for down-the-line winners. When she was asked last year about her plans beyond Wimbledon, she had said, “You’ll never know where I’ll pop up.” And here she is, back to indulge in another aggressive rally and ending it with a swinging forehand volley at The Championships as a wildcard entry.
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Williams’ return to the Championships as a singles player after a one-year gap has been one of the major talking points in the build-up to the marquee grass court event. Five-time Wimbledon champion Williams, who turned 43 recently, beat a Top 50 player in Camila Giorgi in a three-set opening-round thriller during the Birmingham Open last week - a throwback to the good old days.
Dark horses
In the second round in Birmingham, Williams lost to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko, who too will fancy her chances of making it to the final four at Wimbledon – despite being seeded 17th – after a good warmup. She holds her serve much better on grass than the other two surfaces and gets both her forehand and backhand to work well.
Petra Kvitova too found her form in Berlin last week where she won the German Open. Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has every shot in the book, making her one of the most exciting players to watch. The number nine seed will be another dark horse along with compatriot and this year’s French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova who possesses a classic serve-and-volley as well as the net game.
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Ons Jabeur is going to be a threat once again. Last year’s runner-up Jabeur likes volleying, drop shots and down-the-line hits along with the ability to sustain the pressure in tough situations. The Tunisian is seeded sixth behind Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia and American Jessica Pegula but the latter has had mixed results on grass.
With multiple high-quality players and best-of-three sets format, the women’s singles category could still spring a surprise. Who eventually lifts the Venus Rosewater Dish remains to be seen but a highly competitive tournament that might see some not-so-surprising upsets is guaranteed.
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