We pick five men and five women to watch at the All England Club this summer
Saturday 30 June 2018 15:20, UK
Wimbledon is preparing to welcome the world's best players once again for the 132nd edition of the championships, but who are the players to watch this year?
Roger Federer will bid for a ninth Wimbledon title, while Rafael Nadal has the chance to close the gap on his great rival on the all-time list.
Meanwhile, in the women's singles all indications point to another highly competitive Grand Slam event.
Here, we pick out 10 ones to watch in the men's and women's draw...
The Argentine gentle giant is a hugely popular figure in tennis, not least for the resilience he has shown in twice battling back from wrist surgeries. A former Wimbledon semi-finalist and US Open champion who, with his sledgehammer forehand, is one of the few players feared by all. The only downfall would be the fact that he hasn't played a competitive match since his French Open semi-final defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal other than the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event at The Boodles.
Outside of Federer and Nadal, Cilic probably deserves to be considered the next pick after winning his second title at Queen's Club, beating Novak Djokovic in the final. The Croatian will want to make better memories after the blisters and tears of his final loss 12 months ago. Also runner-up at the Australian Open this year, he is very at home on grass and a terrific mover for his height. When his serve and forehand are clicking he will be a big a threat as anyone to make a deep run.
It was at Wimbledon 12 months ago that Djokovic finally gave in to the wrist problems that had dogged him for months. Although not back to his best, recent weeks have indicated the Serbian is not a million miles away from the form that brought him 12 slam titles, three of them at Wimbledon . He reached his first ATP tour final in nearly a year at Queen's Club, and it was on grass which is a good sign. He has won 12 of his last 15 matches after going 6-6 to start 2018.
Trying to predict the volatile Australian is a dangerous game yet he remains such a big talent that he cannot be ignored. Grass is Kyrgios' best surface and the quarter-final he reached on his Wimbledon debut in 2014 is still his joint best slam performance. If he can stay fit and mentally in the game, he will take some stopping. Kyrgios is only one of three players who have hit more aces or won a higher percentage of service games this season and if he can maintain his focus and play up to his abilities, the talented 23-year-old can go far on a surface that suits his game.
Tsitsipas took a little longer to make his mark than fellow 19-year-old Shapovalov but the Greek has rocketed into the top 40 this season, with the highlight a run to the Barcelona Open final. Another with a signature single-handed backhand and a crowd-pleasing flair. He will be seeded 31 at Wimbledon and is a dark horse to go far.
Would there be a more popular champion than Kvitova? The Czech was already loved at Wimbledon after winning the title in 2011 and 2014 and has battled back from a horrific stabbing at her home in December 2016 to return to the top 10. After winning the Nature Valley Classic final in Birmingham, she pulled out of grass-court tuneup in Eastbourne due to a hamstring injury. Kvitova leads the WTA tour with a 7-1 record against top-10 opponents in 2018 and if she's healthy, her lefty serve and forehand work well on the grass.
Few players hit the ball harder than 23-year-old American Keys, who has underachieved at Wimbledon so far, making just one quarter-final. But since a second-round loss last year, she has reached the US Open final, Australian Open quarter-finals and French Open semi-finals. Staying healthy is her biggest challenge. Keys is only one of six women who have won a higher percentage of service points this year and should be able to go far on grass.
A Wimbledon junior champion in 2011 aged 15, Barty was out of the game three years later and tried her hand at professional cricket before picking up her racket again in February 2016. A top-20 player with a game built for grass, Barty should be a danger, as evidenced by her title in Nottingham this month and a quarter-final appearance in Eastbourne.
Sharapova has not played a match on grass since losing to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2015 following her doping ban and injury last summer. She began to look much more like her old self on clay and her return to the All England Club will be one of the big talking points.
Not quite as big, however, as the return of the seven-time champion and new mother, who showed enough in Paris before pulling out of what would have been a blockbuster clash against Sharapova to indicate she should be regarded as a serious Wimbledon contender, provided she has overcome her pectoral injury. Never overlook Williams, no matter how few matches she's played recently.
We will keep you up to date with all the news ahead of Wimbledon including our live blogs once the action gets underway on July 2.
Can any of the players above win the Wimbledon men's and women's titles this year?
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Our next tennis action comes from the German Open in Hamburg. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena from Monday, July 23 from 10am.
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