Will Gauff or Sabalenka finally conquer Wimbledon?

bombay: Petra Kvitova has had a storeyed calling.

She is a former domain No.2 who won the 2011 WTA Finals and helped the czechoslovakian Republic clinch six Billie Jean King Cup titles. In 2016, she was stabbed during a home invasion but successfully made a comeback to the tennis tour, reaching the 2019 Australian Open final. She gave birth to a son last year, and returns to Wimbledon as the two-time former champion.

But this will be the last time the two-time Wimbledon champion will compete on the carefully manicured grass courts of the All England Club.

In her last journey to London as a professional player though, she stands as one of only four active players to have won the Venus Rosewater Dish - the trophy for the women’s singles champion at Wimbledon. But, the 35-year-old is the only player to have won the title more than once, which gives an indication as to how difficult the grass court Grand Slam has been to conquer in the women’s field.

For all the dominance of the top players today, Wimbledon has been a difficult hurdle. But the storylines remain intriguing as the Championships begin on Monday.

Aryna Sabalenka will hope for better success on the Grand Slam stage at Wimbledon. The 27-year-old winner of three hard court majors had reached the final of the Australian Open and French Open this year, but lost out to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff respectively. At Wimbledon though, her best performance is a semi-final in 2021 and 2023 - incidentally, the last two times she played at SW19.

The Belarusian begins her campaign against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstein, and is on a possible collision course with 2023 winner Marketa Vondrousova and home-hope Emma Raducanu.

At the other end of the draw is Gauff, now a two-time Grand Slam champion. While Sabalenka is a hard-hitting attacking baseliner, Gauff is an energetic counter-puncher. Winning the French Open would give her a spring in her step, but making the transition from clay to grass is one of the most difficult challenges in tennis.

It will be interesting to see how she manages that change, especially since she has never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon. She does have a tricky opening match though, against Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.

If the American does indeed manage to get to the quarter-final, she could face Iga Swiatek.

Now ranked No.8 in the world, Swiatek has not won a tournament since she clinched her fifth Grand Slam title at the French Open last year. She lost in the semi-final at Roland Garros earlier this month, but told the media that the early exit could allow her a better chance to prepare for the grass-court swing.

So far, it has gone according to plan as the 24-year-old has reached her first WTA final on grass, at Bad Homburg in Germany.

At Wimbledon though, Swiatek’s best finish was in the quarter-final in 2023. But now she has some form on her side.

The Pole will be one of the players to watch out for. She starts her campaign against world No.63 Polina Kudermetova, but could set up a mouth-watering clash against former champion Elena Rybakina in the fourth round.

Last year’s winner Barbora Krejcikova, though, is the only active multiple-Slam winner in singles to have won Wimbledon, along with compatriot Kvitova. But the defending champion has been struggling for form and fitness. She missed the Australian Open due to a back injury and only got back to the tour in May.

She did make it to the quarter-final at Eastbourne, in one of the tune-up events to Wimbledon, but withdrew ahead of the match due to a thigh injury. What could make her title defence tough is that she plays exciting young prospect Alexandra Eala in the opening round.

Kvitova, Rybakina, Vondrousova and Krejcikova have the distinction of being the only former winners of the most prestigious Grand Slam among the active women’s singles players. That number could change in the next fortnight.

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