Serena and Venus Williams are the only women to have successfully defended the Wimbledon women’s singles title since Steffi Graf in the 1990s, underlining the scale of Elena Rybakina’s task at the All England Club this year.
The Kazakhstani has been handed a tough draw as he bids to repeat her 2022 heroics after being placed alongside the likes of Ons Jabeur, Petra Kvitova and in-form Jelena Ostapenko in a stacked quarter of the women's draw.
In the top half, world number one Iga Swiatek still has much to prove at SW19 as she attempts to replicate her consistency on clay onto grass courts.
But two-time former champion Kvitova has run into form at just the right time as she attempts to repeat her Centre Court successes of 2011 and 2014.
- Petra Kvitova to win Wimbledon
- Veronika Kudermetova to win the 2nd quarter
- Barbora Krejcikova to win the 4th quarter
Kvitova Eying Up A Third Title
Czech star Kvitova skipped Eastbourne after going all the way in the Berlin warm-up event to clinch her sixth grass-court title and 31st in total.
She outserved and outsmarted a good field in Germany and will not be lacking in belief for her hat-trick bid, although the draw could have been kinder to the Czech.
But Kvitova’s head-to-head records against likely third-round opponent Karolina Pliskova (4-2) and potential fourth-round rival Jabeur (4-1) suggest she can come through to potentially face Aryna Sabalenka in the semis.
The Belarusian was barred from gracing the courts at Wimbledon last year, but reached the last four of the singles event in 2021 so could prove an awkward opponent at that stage, especially as she now has a Grand Slam win on her CV.
PETRA KVITOVA TO WIN WIMBLEDON
Barbora Krejcikova To Win 4th Quarter
Ostapenko won the other main warm-up event, but you wonder what the Latvian has left in her tank after playing a total of 17 singles and doubles matches across her two grass-court preps in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
She drew deep on her reserves of stamina to come back from a break down in the third set to beat Venus before overcoming Magdalena Frech from an almost impossible position of 4-6 0-4 in the quarter-finals.
Ostapenko impressed in taking out top seed Barbora Krejcikova, 7-6 6-4 in the final, but may have gone to the well too many times already this month as her withdrawal against Camilla Giorgi on Thursday suggested.
Krejcikova, however, has the variety in her game to outfox top players and can make a deep run from her place in the bottom half of the draw.
She will need to overcome Heather Watson in round one - and potentially young qualifier Mirra Andreeva in round two - but will not come up against much grass-court knowhow until a possible quarter-final meeting with Sabalenka.
Veronika Kudermetova To Go Deep
Veronika Kudermetova is another player going under the radar who has the potential to figure in the semi-finals if she hits top form.
The number 12 seed has an 18-10 career record on grass with three of her four defeats in the past two years coming against Ekaterina Alexandrova, whom she will avoid until the final if both players get that far.
KUDERMETOVA TO WIN 2ND QUARTER
