Wimbledon: Zheng Qinwen among 10 to watch along with Gauff, Alcaraz, Djokovic

Wimbledon begins on Monday with Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova bidding to defend the titles they won last year.

Here are 10 players to watch over the next fortnight.

Coco Gauff

The charismatic American heads to Wimbledon as the new French Open champion, but her grass ceiling remains the fourth round. Yet if her forehand and serve hold up, Gauff has all the weapons and athleticism to master her least favourite surface. The 21-year-old will be seeded second, so there should be little danger until the later stages of the tournament.

Emma Raducanu

Now back at the top of the British rankings, Raducanu is playing probably some of her best tennis since her remarkable US Open triumph in 2021 – although that bar is quite low after a turbulent few years. The 22-year-old is having to manage a back problem, but her informal coaching arrangement with Mark Petchey appears to be working.

Aryna Sabalenka

The runaway world No 1 has yet to make a major impact at Wimbledon and had to withdraw from last year’s tournament through injury. Sabalenka’s ragged display in the Roland Garros final was hard to take, so the powerful Belarusian will be determined to reassert her authority at the top of the women’s game by adding the SW19 title to her US and Australian Open crowns.

Tatjana Maria

The German mother of two came from out of nowhere to be crowned the queen of Queen’s Club earlier this month. Maria went on an incredible run through qualifying before slicing four top-20 players into submission to become the oldest WTA 500 champion at the age of 37. Could bringing 1980s-style tennis back to Wimbledon, where she was a semi-finalist in 2022, land the ultimate prize?

Carlos Alcaraz

Now on a career-best 18-match winning streak taking in Rome, the French Open and a second Queen’s title on Sunday, the defending champion remains the man to beat. A five-time grand slam winner at the age of just 22, Alcaraz has reached five consecutive finals and lost just one match since April. It is hard to see anyone stopping the Spaniard over the next fortnight.

Jannik Sinner

The world No 1 from Italy has reached two finals since returning from a three-month doping ban but is probably still having nightmares about the three championship points he held against Alcaraz at Roland Garros. An aggressive baseliner with excellent movement, Sinner will certainly be a threat, but question marks remain over his stamina in five-set matches.

Zheng Qinwen

With a huge Chinese fan base, Olympic champion Zheng probably has a claim to be the most recognisable female player worldwide. She has also built a reputation for some frowned-upon antics, from flouting warm-up convention by hitting winners to changing her rackets and shoes during an opponent’s service game, most recently against Raducanu at Queen’s.

Jack Draper

Britain’s great hope will go into his home slam seeded fourth after a stellar start to the season, winning a maiden Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, reaching another final in Madrid and the semi-finals at Queen’s. Now free of the fitness issues that dogged his formative years, Draper is one of the most feared players on the ATP Tour and is desperate to emulate Andy Murray and claim the Wimbledon crown.

Alexander Bublik

The maverick from Kazakhstan – who prefers a getaway to Las Vegas to a training block – knocked Draper out of the French Open and accounted for Sinner on his way to the Halle title last week in a blur of pinpoint serving, thunderous winners and a drop shot that lands like a butterfly with sore feet. Temperamental, gloriously unpredictable and brilliant fun to watch.

Novak Djokovic

In reaching the French Open semi-finals, Djokovic proved he can still beat 98 per cent of the field. It is just the other two who are preventing him from landing that record 25th grand slam title: Sinner got the better of him at Roland Garros, while Alcaraz has beaten him in the past two Wimbledon finals. Aged 38, can the last of the “big three” still standing find a way past them and land an eighth title?