Leading contenders – women

ASHLEIGH BARTY

Seeding: 1

With the best slice backhand in the business, Australian Ashleigh Barty is ranked No 1 in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and is the second Australian singles No 1 after fellow countrywoman, Evonne Goolagong Cawley. She has also been a top 10 player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No 5 in the world. She has 11 singles titles and 11 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including one Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 French Open and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US Open with partner Coco Vandeweghe. She is also the reigning champion in singles at the WTA Finals. Despite her short stature, she is an excellent server and has made no secret of the fact that her favourite surface is grass. The 25-year-old has been in brilliant form this season, but goes into Wimbledon with doubts over a hip injury that struck at Roland Garros.

Age: 25 Birth place: Ipswich, Australia Residence: Ipswich, Australia Height: 1.65m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2010 Career singles titles: 11 Grand slam titles: 1 Career prize money: $18 798 303 Wimbledon Championships played: 7 Best singles performance: 4th Round (2019)

ARYNA SABALENKA

Seeding: 2

Aryna Sabalenka has been a top 10 player in both singles and doubles, having been ranked as high as No 4 in singles and No 1 in doubles. She has won two Grand Slam doubles titles, the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open, alongside Elise Mertens. She has won 16 WTA titles in total, ten in singles and six in doubles. Sabalenka was unheralded as a junior and relatively unknown until 2017 when she rose to prominence by leading the Belarus Fed Cup team to a runner-up finish. While the hard-hitting Belarussian has been hovering in and out of the Top 10 since 2019, she has never cracked the quarterfinal barrier in singles at a major. However, she showed that she has the potential to reach the final eight at a Grand Slam by upsetting world No 1 Ashleigh Barty to win the biggest title of her career - the Mutua Madrid Open.

Age: 23 Birth place: Minsk, Belarus Residence: Belarus Height: 1.83m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2015 Career singles titles: 10 Grand slam titles: 0 Career prize money: $8 019 346 Wimbledon Championships played: 3 Best singles performance: 2nd round (2017)

ELINA SVITOLINA

Seeding: 3

Elina Svitolina turned professional in 2010 and reached the career-high ranking of world No 3 in September 2019. She has won 15 WTA singles titles, including the 2018 WTA Finals and three of five Premier 5-level tournaments in 2017: the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Italian Open, and the Canadian Open. At the 2015 French Open, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she was defeated by former champion Ana Ivanovic. In February 2017, after winning the title in Dubai, Svitolina became the first Ukrainian woman to break into the Top-10 rankings. She would finally reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships and followed it up with a second consecutive semifinal at the 2019 US Open. A defensive baseliner, she possesses a remarkably complete game. Her greatest strengths are her movement, footwork, speed, stamina and anticipation, aiming to return as many balls as possible and draw unforced errors out of aggressive players. Her favourite surfaces are grass and clay.

Age: 26 Birth place: Odessa, Ukraine Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco Height: 1.74m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2010 Career singles titles: 15 Grand slam titles: 0 Career prize money: $20 455 758 Wimbledon Championships played: 7 Best singles performance: Semifinal (2019)

SOFIA KENIN

Seeding: 4

Nicknamed “Sonya”, Sofia Kenin has a career-high WTA ranking of No 4 in the world and is the top-ranked American in women’s singles. She is the reigning WTA Player of the Year, an award she earned by winning the 2020 Australian Open (her first and only Grand Slam title so far) and finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the 2020 French Open. She has won five WTA singles titles in total. She has also won two WTA doubles titles, including the 2019 China Open at the Premier Mandatory level with Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Kenin’s style of play centres on using a wide variety of shots to disrupt her opponents. Having been more passive as a junior, she developed into a more aggressive player as a professional, while also improving her consistency – skills that laid the foundation for her rise into the upper echelon of women’s tennis. She has also been recognised for her mental toughness and persistent determination.

Age: 22 Birth place: Moscow, Russia Residence: Florida, USA Height: 1.7m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2017 Career singles titles: 5 Grand slam titles: 1 Career prize money: $7 624 041 Wimbledon Championships played: 2 Best singles performance: 2nd round (2018, 2019)

BIANCA ANDREESCU

Seeding: 5

Bianca Andreescu has a career-high ranking of No 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the WTA. She began playing tennis in her parents’ home country of Romania, before returning to Canada, the country of her birth. After not playing any matches at the WTA Tour level in 2018, she had a breakout year in 2019 – winning both the US Open and the Canadian Open, defeating Serena Williams on both occasions. She is the first Canadian tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title, and the first to win the Canadian Open in 50 years. She is also the first player to win a Grand Slam singles title as a teenager since Maria Sharapova in 2004. Her style of play combines power with variety, and she is been widely regarded as “fun to watch” by tennis fans, commentators and journalists. She has strong support from both Canadian and Romanian fan bases.

Age: 21 Birth place: Ontario, Canada Residence: Monaco Height: 1.7m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: Career singles titles: 3 Grand slam titles: 1 Career prize money: $7 093 115 Wimbledon Championships played: 1 Best singles performance: 1st round (2017)

SERENA WILLIAMS

Seeding: 6

Serena Williams is widely regarded to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court (24). The WTA ranked her world No 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. On her sixth occasion, she held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf. In total, she has been No 1 for 319 weeks, which ranks third in the Open Era for women behind Graf and Martina Navratilova. Williams’ quest for that elusive 24th Grand Slam singles title continues - and Wimbledon is widely believed to be her best chance. Although she reached the final in both 2018 and 2019, she was well beaten by Angelique Kerber and Halep, respectively, and has not played a match on grass for two years.

Age: 39 Birth place: Michigan, USA Residence: Florida, USA Height: 1.75m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 1995 Career singles titles: 73 Grand slam titles: 23 Career prize money: $94 453 854 Wimbledon Championships played: 19 Best singles performance: Champion (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016)

IGA SWIATEK

Seeding: 7

Iga Swiatek is the youngest player in the Top 10 of the WTA rankings, and is currently ranked No 9 in the world. She began playing regularly on the WTA Tour in 2019, the same year she made her tour debut, entering the Top 50 at the age of 18 after her first appearance in a WTA final and a fourth-round appearance at the French Open where she was defeated by Simona Halep. She then stunned the tennis world by winning the 2020 French Open, becoming the first Polish player in history to win a Grand Slam singles title. During her dominant run to the title, she did not drop a set or lose more than five games in any match. Her French Open title also made her the youngest singles champion at the tournament since Rafael Nadal in 2005, and the youngest women’s singles champion since Monica Seles in 1992. She was voted WTA Fan Favourite Singles Player of the Year in 2020.

Age: 20 Birth place: Warsaw, Poland Residence: Warsaw Height: 1.75m Plays: Right-handed Turned pro: 2018 Career singles titles: 3 Grand slam titles: 1 Career prize money: $3 958 153 Wimbledon Championships played: 1 Best singles performance: 1st round (2019)