After the end of a bruising clay-court season, the women’s singles look set for a brand-new Wimbledon 2024 champion.
Marketa Vondrousova’s history-making run in 2023 saw her become the first unseeded player to win the women’s singles final beating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
With two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka withdrawing due to a niggling shoulder injury, before Belarus’ two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka followed suit, the bottom half of the draw has been blown wide open.
America’s Coco Gauff looks to be the odds-on favorite to go the distance, with top seed Iga Swiatek historically struggling on the grass, and Elena Rybakina having endured a handful of injury woes in the lead up to this year’s slam.
With the women’s singles competition accustomed to crowning new champions, who are the ‘dark horses’ to keep an eye on over the next fortnight?
Jessica Pegula
The hard-hitting, friendly-faced American has consistently under-achieved at grand-slam level, never making it beyond the quarter-final stage at a major in six attempts.
Despite this rather bleak statistic, the stage feels set for Jessica Pegula to stem this horrendous run, with Andy Roddick insisting on his podcast that the 30-year-old will feature in this year’s final.
Storming past compatriot Ashyln Krueger at the expense of just two games, the fifth seed came through her opening round in 49 minutes, laying down an early marker in Southwest London.
Pegula clinched her first grass-court title in Berlin a week ago, saving five match points in the process to beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, and despite a premature exit to Britain’s Emma Raducanu at Eastbourne, she looks ready to prove the doubters wrong.
Daria Kasatkina
The former French Open semi-finalist and high-flying Russian enters the fray in red-hot form having convincingly beaten Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the final at Eastbourne three days ago, dropping just one set throughout the tournament.
Despite having never made it beyond the quarter-finals at the All-England Club, the fourteenth seed looks increasingly assured on the green stuff, with her diverse array of shots and energetic style suiting the surface perfectly.
Belgian tennis coach Wim Fissette, who has previously worked with the likes of Naomi Osaka and Kim Clijsters once labelled Kasatkina on X ‘the Roger Federer of women’s tennis’.
A bulldozing first-round victory against Shuai Zhang 6-3, 6-0, condemned her Chinese opponent to a 21st straight singles match defeat in a row, matching Vincent Spadea’s record for the worst losing streak in tennis history.
While the crafty 27-year-old favors the clay, her run to the latter stages looks less complex than several front-runners, with Swiatek preparing to take on former French Open champion Sofia Kenin in her opening round.
Emma Raducanu
It was of course this very stage three years ago where Raducanu announced herself to the tennis world after becoming the youngest British woman to reach the last 16 in the Open Era.
Entering the US Open as a qualifier several months later, the young Brit went on a remarkable run to clinch the title and solidify her name in tennis folklore.
Her career since has been a fluctuating, frustrating one, with the 21-year-old plagued with injuries and coach changes in her bid to rediscover her form.
Looking extremely fresh and with a new attitude, Raducanu has hit the grass courts by storm, claiming her first top-10 victory over Pegula in Eastbourne last week.
Donning a powerful backhand down the line, one of the most important shots on the surface, and a pair of steady hands at the net, the Brit looks poised to make her mark at the All-England Club and kiss goodbye to the question marks that have previously lingered over her head.
She got off to a fabulous start. Raducanu swept aside lucky loser Renata Zarazua in her opening round match on Centre Court, eventually out-powering the Mexican 7-6, 6-3 to the delight of the home crowd.
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