Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have split the year's first two majors and are hard to separate at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are racing against the clock to be fit in time to play.
Iga Swiatek is hoping to carry her 19-match clay-court winning streak across to grass, while Elena Rybakina looks to recapture the form and momentum that took her to the 2022 title.
Will any of these players go all the way at the All England Club? Or will the champion emerge from somewhere else in the draw?
We chat to our experts to get their take on how it all might unfold.
Our panel
Sam Stosur: 2011 US Open champion and now Australian Billie Jean King Cup captain
Storm Hunter: Former doubles world No.1 and 2023 Wimbledon doubles finalist
Andre Sa: Former Brazilian pro who reached Wimbledon 2002 singles quarterfinals
Alicia Molik: Former world No.8 and previous Australian Billie Jean King Cup captain
Sinner and Alcaraz have won the two major trophies so far in 2024. Sinner is the world No.1 and just won Halle; Alcaraz is the defending Wimbledon champion. Which of them is the bigger favourite?
STOSUR: "I don't know if you can really say there is (a favourite between them) as such. It's kinda like, who you like better, I think (laughter). I feel Alcaraz has kind of got the ability to go up that little bit more, but he also has the ability to drop concentration, have a little dip at the wrong time and then can get himself in trouble. However, during the French after that second-round match where that happened, he really tightened that up. Their bios and everything are almost identical; head-to-head, both been No.1, both almost the same age. I'd go Alcaraz, but could be totally wrong (laughter).”
HUNTER: "I think it's actually pretty tough to split them. I would say even though Alcaraz won Roland Garros, Sinner is probably the more in-form player at the moment, just because he won Halle. I think matches on grass are very, very important, and the fact that he came out and won a big event, played tough opponents like Hubi Hurkacz in the final, I think that match toughness on grass, you can't replicate that in practice. I think going into Roland Garros he was under a bit of an injury cloud, and I think now he's flying, so I would probably pick Sinner."
SA: "In my book the defending champion is always the favourite. Alcaraz has the experience of winning it. It's great for Sinner to win a big title on grass but Alcaraz is still the one I would pick."
MOLIK: "I think Alcaraz, because I actually watched that final live last year, and it was quite a remarkable effort for him in his first Wimbledon final to come back and defeat Novak, who was absolutely supremely at the top of his game at the same. Although I have been having lots of chat with friends and members of the tennis club and saying how impressed I am with Sinner's forecourt game now -- I think Darren's had a good influence on that -- plus pretty compact and clean strokes too, which really plays in his favour. But I just think the edge of having won Wimbledon before, and dealing with the nerves and expectation and occasion last year what just unbelievable from Alcaraz, and I think that will hold him in good stead."
Djokovic is by far the most accomplished grass-courter in the field, but is still working his way back from meniscus surgery. He's looking more likely to play, so how might he perform?
STOSUR: "He's had such an interesting year given his lack of winning tournaments and everything. It's easy to think: he's on his downslide, it's all sort of gone. But he's arguably the greatest ever, and I don't think you can write him off yet. Novak has proven time and again that when his back's against the wall, that's when he comes out to shine his brightest. It would be a phenomenal recovery if that's what he can do. I think even if he's not maybe quite 100 per cent for his first rounds, potentially he can still get through those anyway, because he's phenomenal here (at Wimbledon). If he can get himself to the second week, even though he'd been playing, that's another week down the track from surgery where he's going to be stronger, he's going to feel better and fitter."
HUNTER: "He's always going to be dangerous, because like he has mentioned, he's not going to even play his first round if he doesn't feel that he's ready to basically win the whole thing. If he ends up playing and doesn't have five-set matches where he's putting his body under like so much stress, if he's kind of getting through those first rounds quite comfortably, that's obviously going to be better for his body to recover. If he does potentially go deep, his body's not maybe as much of a worry. I think we've seen at the Australian Open (in 2023) when he had the hamstring injury, we saw that he actually got better as time went on. So I think that's also something here at Wimbledon; the more time he has, I think he's gonna get better and better."
SA: "If Novak does play he is definitely one of the favourites, but best-of-five on grass, and having to sprint and stop on that knee, won't be easy. First couple of matches will be key for him."
MOLIK: "I don't think he'd be there if he didn't think he was pretty much at full tilt; I don't think he would attempt to win a Slam being undercooked, or having major question marks about his body. He obviously has the backing from his medical team and surgeon. Also, Novak's the kind of guy that can almost treat the first week of Wimbledon – I think I've said this before – still like a sort of match-play week. Often he's not tested in the first week... because he's so good, he can get by sort of a little bit in cruise mode on the grass. The only thing I worry with his knee is at times the courts can (test) your footing, you can slip. That's probably the only concern for him. But I think if he had any concern about his knee, I think he'd pull out. I don't think he'd be in London if he didn't think right now he could win Wimbledon."
The last time we saw Swiatek on court, she won on clay at Roland Garros. Can she translate this winning form to the grass at Wimbledon?
STOSUR: "Obviously she's phenomenal, won the French again, there's all of her stats, she's a very dominant player and No.1, and showing that she's an absolute force. But last year at Wimbledon, I feel like was almost the most outwardly stressed I've seen her. It just really stuck with me. She's another year older and more mature, another year of dominance; I do think she can turn it around. She can play on any surface. The freshness and slipperiness of the grass I feel like is the hardest in these early matches, but as you go on, the courts get harder, grass disappears behind the baseline, you can take more swings, and have longer rallies from the baseline, and I think that's where then she can actually feel really comfortable. If she can get trough the first little bit, hard to say that she can't do it. It's all about the mentality for her.”
HUNTER: "Even though she hasn't had that grass-court exposure yet in matches and playing those tournaments, I think the fact that she's on this streak, winning Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, she's on a match high. I think if she can get through those early rounds feeling confident, and just being able to play her game and adjust and adapt, I actually think she's gonna be looking pretty good. And I feel like she's got this thing she wants to prove, that she can win a Slam on grass; there have been those doubts around her game. I think if any year she's gonna prove that, I think this is the year. I think she's looking really fit, strong mentally as well. Coming back from some tough matches, like against Osaka – that match was I think a huge turning point – and I think Sabalenka in the final of Madrid was a very important match for her to win."
SA: "I think Iga can make the transition. She is coming in full of confidence. Even though grass is not her favourite surface, she has a killer instinct to win matches. So I can see her making a deep run in the tournament."
MOLIK: "I think she can. She probably put so much pressure on herself to win the French Open again, it's a massive month for her, all the lead-ups on clay as well. I think not playing on grass, I think it takes the pressure off her a little bit. She's got the game that can win Wimbledon; I just think it's still mentally for her, the ups and downs of having people really push and chase her. Someone with a big serve can unsettle her a bit, early in the tournament. But if she has the belief, there's no question she can win Wimbledon."
Many consider Sabalenka and Rybakina to be the women’s favourites, but both were forced to retire from matches in Berlin. How do you rate their chances?
[Editor's note: Several of these interviews were conducted before Sabalenka's press conference on Saturday, revealing the extent of her shoulder injury.]
STOSUR: "I still think they are the two favourites for the title. (Their Roland Garros quarterfinal losses) will be erased, they'll learn from those matches. There's been so many withdrawals all round. The first couple of weeks on grass can feel uncomfortable, and the more time you spend on it those feelings disappear. I feel like by the time Wimbledon comes, everyone's sort of a bit more settled in, and I still think they're obviously two of the best players in the world; they've got the weapons, the game, the ability, they've proved they can win these tournaments. I think they're the ones to probably look out for."
HUNTER: "I think the year is a long year, and obviously their goals are trying to win Slams. Now they've been at Wimby for the last week, practising, getting used to the conditions and settling into being in a Grand Slam and yeah, I hold them both to go very deep. Obviously Rybakina is a previous Wimbledon champion, so her game style, I think she can really do some damage, and having success in the past as well – as long as she's feeling healthy – I think she can go really deep. Same as Sabalenka, obviously she's a Grand Slam champion as well. I think they'll get to Wimby and feel very confident with their serves, big ball striking, taking the ball early, just being able to dominate and really go deep."
SA: “I think both were just being extra careful before the big one. Rybakina won it before so I'm sure if she is 100 per cent fit she can do some damage. Same for Sabalenka, but I put Rybakina ahead."
MOLIK: "They're not waltzing into Wimbledon with a mountain of confidence on the grass... isn't that great for Iga? I think (all these factors) just makes Sabalenka and Rybakina twice as vulnerable to the rest of the field. Jabeur had the world on her shoulders last year and she doesn't this year, and that's the kind of player who could walk out and be a real threat. Also someone like Ostapenko; if she's on fire and lacing the ball on the lines, she's dangerous any day of the week. She's among these big hitters who can more than match them with their own power. When you don't have the match practice ... on grass you kind of need to feel it and win a few times on the surface to have full belief all the time. I don't think both of them are guaranteed to make the second week."
Who will win the men’s and women’s singles titles?
STOSUR: "I'm going to go Alcaraz and Sabalenka."
HUNTER: "In the men's I'm gonna go with Sinner; I think he's just looking too clean at the moment and he's looking great. The women's is tough. Part of me wants to go Swiatek, and a part of me actually wants to go Rybakina. I feel like she's actually due for a big win, she's had a lot of injuries and health concerns this year, but she's also had some really good successes. I liked what I saw from her at Roland Garros, and I think she's due for another Slam. So I'm gonna go with Rybakina."
SA: “Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina.”
MOLIK: "Imagine if Vondrousova did it back-to-back? I'll be watching so closely here from Australia prior to going over in the second week... I think it might be Iga. I think this could be her year, because of there being absolutely no pressure to win it. There was heaps of pressure to win the French, a heap. From other people, from herself. And there's just not the same expectation at all, I believe, for Wimbledon. On the men's side I really feel like Alex de Minaur could get to the last four here ... But I really feel like Carlos can probably do it again, because he's got the feeling. He knows he can. Despite how well how Sinner and Djokovic can play, Alcaraz just has a mental edge, I think."