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Six completely different girls have gained the Wimbledon title within the final six editions and because the 2023 match begins on July 3 there may be nonetheless no clear favorite for the grasscourt Grand Slam.
World primary Iga Swiatek has conquered clay and hardcourts however the Pole has but to style success on grass having by no means reached the quarter-finals on the All England Membership.
Massive-serving Elena Rybakina will intention to retain her title however different gamers have emerged as severe contenders:
ARYNA SABALENKA (BELARUS)
IMAGE: World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka will look to make up for misplaced time after lacking final 12 months’s match because of the ban on Russian and Belarusian gamers after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. {Photograph}: Mike Hewitt/Getty Photos
* World rating: 2
The massive-hitting Belarusian has polished her recreation this 12 months and turn out to be much less erratic along with her shot-making, which helped her win the Australian Open in January.
The 25-year-old has additionally lowered what gave the impression to be an insurmountable hole to world primary Swiatek within the rankings through the claycourt swing, beating her within the Madrid closing, however was shocked within the French Open semis by Karolina Muchova.
Sabalenka will look to make up for misplaced time after lacking final 12 months’s match because of the ban on Russian and Belarusian gamers after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a ‘particular army operation’, and he or she was within the highlight at Roland Garros when her stance on the struggle was questioned.
Sabalenka has distanced herself from Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko. The world quantity two should compete below a impartial flag at Wimbledon.
ONS JABEUR (TUNISIA)
IMAGE: Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur completed runners-up on the Wimbledon final 12 months. {Photograph}: Clive Brunskill/Getty Photos
* World rating: 6
After Jabeur misplaced within the French Open quarter-finals, she had just one factor on her thoughts — the grass season.
Jabeur stated she was a bit of rusty at Roland Garros after a string of accidents this 12 months however the decided Tunisian trailblazer vowed to work more durable through the grasscourt swing.
Jabeur got here shut final 12 months when she took the primary set in her loss to Rybakina within the Wimbledon closing however the 28-year-old is inching nearer to turning into the primary African lady and the primary Arab to win a Grand Slam singles title.
After her loss at Roland Garros, Jabeur stated grass fits her unorthodox type higher and he or she couldn’t wait to get began with tune-up tournaments in Berlin and Eastbourne.
“I am hoping to get the title in Wimbledon, I am dreaming about it. It is one thing that I all the time wished,” she stated.
COCO GAUFF (UNITED STATES)
* World rating: 7
Coco Gauff should still solely be 19 however the American has come a great distance since she was a wiry teenager who made her Grand Slam most important draw debut at Wimbledon in 2019.
The American shocked the sphere when she upset five-time champion Venus Williams in straight units en path to the fourth spherical and has since moved into the highest 10 the place she has been a mainstay since September.
Now armed with one of many quickest serves on the ladies’s tour, a potent weapon on grass, Gauff has already set her eyes on Wimbledon after shedding to Swiatek at Roland Garros.
“Carrying it into the following Grand Slam, I am excited. I just like the grass. I’ve good outcomes there,” Gauff stated.
“I believe I can enhance so much and I am simply wanting ahead to getting higher and bettering.”
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