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With defending champion Serena Williams and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova both sidelined due to pregnancy and injury respectively, and world number one Angelique Kerber battling poor form this year, the field is wide open for anyone to win this year’s Wimbledon ladies’ title.
The absence of the aforementioned pair, as well as Kerber’s struggles with form, threw wide open the field at the French Open and it was Jelena Ostapenko who pounced, becoming the youngest Grand Slam women’s champion since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004.
Like many before her, the recently-turned 20-year-old will shoulder the pressure of being a Grand Slam champion into Wimbledon, and it will remain to be seen how she adapts to her new title.
The battle for the world number one ranking is also set to go down to the wire, with Kerber the most vincible as she has to defend 1,300 points from reaching the final last year.
And all eyes will be on two-time champion Petra Kvitova to see if she can continue her fairytale comeback from a hand injury she violently suffered before Christmas last year.
Let’s now have a look at the major contenders for this year’s Wimbledon title, starting with Kvitova.
Petra Kvitova (CZE)
Current world ranking: 12
Seeded: 11
Wimbledon history
Best result: Won (2011, 2014)
Last year’s result: Second round
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: Did not play
French Open: Second round
Titles so far in 2017: Birmingham
Without a doubt, the player to watch at this year’s Wimbledon Championships will be two-time champion Petra Kvitova.
A strong finish to the 2016 season ended rather violently when the 27-year-old was attacked by an intruder in her apartment shortly before Christmas, suffering significant injuries to her left hand in the process.
She missed the Australian Open as a result but made an encouraging return at Roland Garros, where she reached the second round when nothing much was expected from her.
But it was her return to the grass courts where she all but assumed favouritism for the Wimbledon title, claiming her 20th career title in Birmingham, defeating comeback kid Ashleigh Barty in the final.
The battle between the 2011 ladies’ and girls’ champions was as entertaining as it could be, and ultimately it was the senior whose experience told as she saluted on grass for the first time since winning her second Wimbledon title in 2014.
It will now remain to be seen whether Kvitova, who has withdrawn from Eastbourne due to an abdominal injury, can maintain a three-year pattern of saluting at the All England Club this year.
It may only be her third tournament back after that aforementioned serious injury, but I think she can go all the way.
Prediction: Champion
Angelique Kerber (GER)
Current world ranking: 1
Seeded: 1
Wimbledon history
Best result: Runner-up (2016)
Last year’s result: Runner-up
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: Fourth round
French Open: First round
Titles so far in 2017: None
World number one Angelique Kerber must be thanking her lucky stars after a disastrous campaign at Roland Garros led to her becoming the first world number one in sixteen years to bomb out of a major in the first round.
Continuing a year of dismal results, the German dropped her opening match to Ekaterina Makarova in Paris, and only retained top spot in the rankings after Simona Halep was beaten in the final by Jelena Ostapenko.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Both Kerber and Halep are currently contesting the lead-up tournament in Eastbourne, which could decide who arrives at the All England Club as the top women’s player in the world.
The 29-year-old also lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Coco Vandeweghe, and has only reached one final for the year to date, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Monterrey.
It will be at Wimbledon where Kerber will be under the most pressure to defend the points she gained by reaching the final last year, which she lost to Serena Williams in straight sets.
Thus, an early loss will almost certainly see her lose the world number one ranking, or at the very least drop out of the top two for the first time in a year, depending on how others fare.
Given her season to date, I just can’t see her doing well here.
Prediction: Fourth round
Simona Halep (ROU)
Current world ranking: 2
Seeded: 2
Wimbledon history
Best result: Semi-finals (2014)
Last year’s result: Quarter-finals
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: First round
French Open: Runner-up
Titles so far in 2017: Madrid
Despite blowing her biggest chance yet to win her maiden major title at Roland Garros, Simona Halep remains one of the more serious contenders to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon.
The Romanian lived up to pre-tournament expectations in Paris, reaching the final, where she was expected to account for the inexperienced Jelena Ostapenko.
However, the 25-year-old produced arguably the greatest choke in a Grand Slam final; having won the opening set, she had three points for a double-break in the second set, and ultimately lost her way from there.
Worse, she also led by a break in the deciding set, only to drop the next five games to lose her second French Open final in four years.
With the transition from clay to grass, comes a fresh opportunity for the Darren Cahill-coached Halep to adjust and succeed on a surface where she has enjoyed some degree of success.
She won her second career title in the Netherlands in 2013, a year before she reached the semi-finals where an ankle injury hampered her against Eugenie Bouchard.
Depending on how she fares at the ongoing tournament in Eastbourne, she has the chance to claim the world number one ranking, having blown it at the French Open. However, she is already confirmed to be seeded second.
The Romanian will again be expected to go deep at the All England Club, but just how deep will remain to be seen.
Prediction: Semi-finals
(Carine06 / Flickr)
Wimbledon history
Best result: Second round (2013-)
Last year’s result: Second round
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: Quarter-finals
French Open: Semi-finals
Titles so far in 2017: Brisbane, Doha
Another player to watch at Wimbledon this year is the ever-improving Karolina Pliskova.
The 25-year-old Czech started this year on fire, winning titles in Brisbane and Doha on either side of reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time.
She also reached consecutive semi-finals at Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki respectively, and put behind a poor clay court swing to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros.
There, the US Open finalist had the chance to become world number one simply by reaching the final, but found Romanian Simona Halep way too good for her in the penultimate stage.
Again Pliskova, who has reached the third round at the ongoing tournament in Eastbourne, will have the chance to claim top spot given current world number one Angelique Kerber will be under a lot of pressure to defend the points she gained from reaching the final last year.
As far as her record at Wimbledon is concerned, though, the Czech still has a lot of work to do, having lost in the second round in each of the past four years. However, she did win in Nottingham last year, demonstrating her grass court abilities.
That was well before she could seriously be considered a contender at major tournaments, but given what she has achieved in the past twelve months, and the inroads she has made in the rankings, anything less than a quarter-final run will be considered unsatisfactory.
In fact, I have pencilled her in for a possible run to the final.
Prediction: Final
Other notable contenders: Venus Williams, Johanna Konta, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Ostapenko, Garbine Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka.
Notable absentees: Serena Williams (pregnancy), Maria Sharapova (thigh), Samantha Stosur (hand), Laura Siegemund (knee).
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