Marketa Vondrousova celebrates profitable Wimbledon final 12 months – Julian Finney/Getty Pictures
With the 2024 Wimbledon Championships springing to life from Monday, it’ll all start with a flurry of wildcards, each court docket getting used and an entire heap of questions. Like: who actually has an opportunity to go all the best way – and what’s their recreation actually like?
So whilst you wait within the queue, we have now the final word cheat sheet for you, breaking down the highest contenders and supplying you with a scouting report on their strengths and weaknesses so you possibly can go off information of their recreation as your individual…
Strengths: The purest ball-strike on the tour. In case you’re fortunate sufficient to be watching him in individual, hearken to the increase when he hits his groundstrokes. It’s like a rocket going off. Relentless and extremely aggressive.
Weaknesses: Umm… anybody? Like a youthful Novak Djokovic, Sinner has no apparent holes in his recreation.
Persona: Sinner is the least Italian Italian you’ll ever meet. Born in South Tyrol, the place they communicate German, he’s fair-skinned and has the logical, literal-minded mindset we affiliate with that language.
Prospects: Pretty much as good as anybody’s, with the potential exception of Carlos Alcaraz.
Strengths: Arguably essentially the most various kitbag the sport has ever seen. His drop shot is his calling card, however he may also dominate from the baseline. That mixture of energy and contact – and his matchless capability to improvise on the hoof – makes him a crowd favorite wherever he goes.
Weaknesses: Lacks Sinner’s single-minded focus. Can go on psychological walkabouts throughout matches, or over-complicate what needs to be fast kills.
Persona: Most high gamers hold a poker face throughout matches however Alcaraz is a uncommon instance of somebody who smiles, particularly after producing considered one of his many highlight-reel hot-shots. Equally sunny off the court docket.
Prospects: Defending champion at Wimbledon and the newly-crowned French Open champion in addition, Alcaraz will begin because the clear favorite.
Strengths: The place does one begin? Absolutely the very best returner tennis has ever seen. Additionally owns essentially the most strong double-handed backhand in historical past. The serve and forehand aren’t unhealthy both.
Weaknesses: Usually, none. However Djokovic underwent surgical procedure to restore a torn meniscus three weeks in the past. Even within the best-case state of affairs, he shall be going into the event undercooked.
Persona: A posh and interesting character who speaks half a dozen languages fluently and has a really distinct worldview. A few of this entails pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo just like the “human improve gadget” he likes to put on on his chest.
Prospects: It’s removed from sure that Djokovic will play in any respect, given his ongoing recuperation from that knee operation. If he does, a deep run would appear inconceivable. However then, Djokovic claims to have received the Australian Open on a couple of event whereas carrying important muscle tears.
Strengths: Essentially the most lickety-split mover on the tour, De Minaur’s flip of tempo leaves everybody however Alcaraz within the mud. Additionally hits his groundstrokes with comparatively little high spin – an asset on grass, the place flat photographs skid on extra rapidly. Has beefed up his serve significantly over the previous 12 months or so.
Weaknesses: In comparison with his major rivals, he lacks point-ending energy. Additionally has a poor file at main occasions: simply two quarter-final appearances to point out from 27 makes an attempt.
Persona: The type of clean-cut, well mannered and modest younger man whom any lady could be comfortable to introduce to her mother and father. On this case, the lady in query is British No1 Katie Boulter.
Prospects: Very a lot a darkish horse, given his modest file on the majors, however is constructing momentum and received the latest Libema Open within the Netherlands.
Strengths: A venomous, swinging lefty serve that places one in thoughts of 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic. Strikes nicely for an enormous man and has introduced a extra aggressive edge to his shotmaking in latest weeks.
Weaknesses: At 22, Draper continues to be very inexperienced on the high stage and has a modest file on the majors. But to point out the type of bodily resilience required by a deep run into the second week of a slam.
Persona: Likeable, well-spoken and clever, Draper is an interesting interviewee and will simply develop into a sporting superstar if his outcomes begin to match his large potential.
Prospects: Has had maybe the perfect build-up. Having claimed a maiden ATP title on the grass of Stuttgart, Draper beat defending champion Alcaraz at Queen’s, after which prevented exhaustion by bowing out on the quarter-final stage. Seeded for the primary time at a serious, his prospects could rely on which high-ranked participant he’s drawn to face within the third spherical.
Strengths: Performs old style route-one stuff with the most important serve-forehand combo within the enterprise. On grass, his backhand slice turns into an ungainly proposition.
Weaknesses: Has one of the crucial susceptible double-handed backhands round, so struggles to manage when penned into that nook.
Persona: A mannequin for Hugo Boss, Berrettini have to be one of many best-looking athletes alive. Genial character who’s most at residence whereas sharing a plate of pasta together with his stereotypically Italian household (as depicted in Netflix’s Break Level documentary).
Prospects: Now ranked No 60 after a sequence of accidents, Berrettini is unseeded, however nobody will need to face this crowd favorite. Reached the 2021 Wimbledon ultimate, the place he took a set off Djokovic.
WOMEN
Strengths: The runaway world No1 is a fierce competitor who hits with mighty high spin off each wings and has accelerated her serve this 12 months. Swiatek is available in on a 19-match profitable streak after going unbeaten on outside clay.
Weaknesses: Has by no means been previous the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, regardless of profitable the juniors in 2018, and has performed solely 19 tour-level matches on grass. Makes use of an excessive grip on the forehand aspect, which may be uncovered by the type of low, quick, skidding balls that you just are likely to face on this floor.
Persona: An introvert who prefers her personal firm and is happiest when curling up with e-book. However, Swiatek may give punchy opinions and has been a high-profile supporter of Ukrainian gamers amongst different good causes.
Prospects: Laborious to name, however the change within the first serve may very well be influential. Having averaged 102mph throughout final 12 months’s clay-court season, Swiatek lifted that determine to 110mph on the latest French Open. “I really feel like yearly it’s simpler for me to adapt to grass,” she stated, after thumping Jasmine Paolini in a one-sided Roland Garros ultimate.
Strengths: Was solely 15 when she famously defeated Venus Williams on her main-draw debut at Wimbledon, and retains all of the belongings she had then: extraordinary athleticism, a strong serve and a backhand that by no means lets her down.
Weaknesses: Gauff’s forehand has a behavior of misfiring, and sometimes collapses fully. Like Swiatek, she makes use of an excessive grip, however her swing is longer and has extra parts that may go flawed.
Persona: Possesses extra star high quality than any of her rivals. Gauff is simply 20 however has tackled some massive topics – from racism to local weather change – with extraordinary poise and maturity.
Prospects: Grass wouldn’t be Gauff’s most well-liked floor, however at the least it offers her a greater likelihood of sneaking previous Swiatek – the nemesis who has overwhelmed her 11 occasions in 12 conferences. A protracted shot however not an inconceivable one.
Strengths: Amazonian determine who hammers each ball as if it has personally insulted her. Large serve, massive forehand, massive backhand, massive every part.
Weaknesses: Generally is a little heavy-handed, and as soon as her radar goes wonky, she struggles to get it again. In 2021 and 2023, Sabalenka reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and received the primary set, but proved unable to shut.
Persona: As extroverted as Swiatek is introverted, Sabalenka has a prepared snort and a loud voice that matches her uninhibited strokeplay.
Prospects: Respectable, despite the fact that she retired from a match in Berlin final week citing a neck/shoulder drawback. Was photographed hitting at Wimbledon with out strapping on Tuesday.
Strengths: The 2022 champion has most likely the very best serve on tour and hits a flat ball with apparently easy timing. All of those traits make her beautifully suited to grass-court tennis, and have contributed to a 4-2, head-to-head file towards Swiatek.
Weaknesses: Rybakina’s late spring and summer time have been decimated by outbreaks of ill-health. She doesn’t like speaking in regards to the situation and was downright impolite when it was raised in her press convention on the eve of the French Open.
Persona: Distant and reserved, Rybakina didn’t even have a good time when she received Wimbledon two years in the past.
Prospects: Would stand among the many favourites however for the mysterious and recurring well being points which have bedevilled her season.
Strengths: A charmingly well-rounded recreation consists of beautiful contact on the drop shot in addition to a variety of different dinks and slices. Additionally bangs down a surprisingly efficient serve for a lady who stands simply 5ft 6in.
Weaknesses: Mentally suspect. Has reached the ultimate of Wimbledon in every of the final two seasons, however laid an egg – to borrow considered one of John McEnroe’s phrases – towards Marketa Vondrousova in final 12 months’s showpiece.
Persona: Was once often known as “the minister for happiness” on account of her ever-present smile, though the enjoyment went lacking earlier this 12 months when she was battling a sore knee. Additionally a number one voice on the Skilled Tennis Gamers’ Affiliation – Novak Djokovic’s try at an impartial participant union – and refreshingly unafraid to name out the sport’s inequities.
Prospects: Does Jabeur need it an excessive amount of? She has stated that she would like to win Wimbledon after which begin a household, and that energy of want has maybe labored towards her within the greatest matches. Nonetheless, her 17 Wimbledon wins put her forward of each different participant on our record.
Strengths: The defending champion is a pure disruptor: a lefty with nice contact and a discombobulating manner of developing with photographs you don’t count on.
Weaknesses: Vondrousova’s unpredictability extends to her personal efficiency stage. Can lack focus or path when the sensation isn’t together with her.
Persona: As awkward in entrance of a microphone as she is to play, Vondrousova would moderately be at residence together with her cat.
Prospects: A nasty fall in Berlin final week pressured Vondrousova to retire damage. We don’t but know the way critical the damage is, however the probabilities of a profitable title defence have shifted from inconceivable to distant.
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