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Something will be missing from Wimbledon this year. For 147 years they have kept watch over grass and chalk (actually titanium dioxide), been scowled at by irate players and been struck by speeding balls in the line of duty; now line judges have been consigned to history. The “challenge” system, a suspenseful crowd favourite, has also been banished. Replacing both is the electronic line-calling system, already used widely across the tennis tour and impervious to dissenters, though some will try.
Otherwise, little will change in this bastion of tradition, tennis whites and strawberries — at least until the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club begins a controversial £200mn expansion project. For now, most of the funds — a record total pot of £53.5mn this year — will be funnelled towards the players. And here are the men and women most likely to get their hands on the top prizes and, more importantly, the trophies.
Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Is there any stopping the Spanish wunderkind? Carlos Alcaraz will be playing for a hat-trick when he arrives in SW19, having clinched the title in 2023 and 2024. He also arrives buoyed by another title at Roland Garros in an instant-classic, near-six-hour final, and a newly minted title on grass at Queen’s just over a week ago. Transitioning seamlessly across all surfaces, Alcaraz appears to float over the grass as Roger Federer once did, unleashing a hammer-like forehand and feathering drop shots into impossible places. Whether he wins again or not, the sheer spectacle of the Spaniard’s game makes him the one to watch.
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
When you’ve won Wimbledon seven times, you don’t need to play a warm-up grass-court tournament. That at least is the thinking of Novak Djokovic, who dominated here for more than a decade between 2011 and 2022. The main impediments to a Federer-equalling eighth trophy are age and youth: Djokovic turned 38 in May and was defeated in the past two Wimbledon finals by the young dynamo Alcaraz, 16 years his junior. Still, Djokovic overcame Alcaraz in their two most recent encounters — and you bet against the mighty Serb at your peril.
Jannik Sinner (Italy)
In June, the usually reserved men’s world number one Jannik Sinner shocked the world by releasing a musical collaboration with veteran divo Andrea Bocelli. Its title “Dust and Glory” could be a summation of Sinner’s year so far. First came the glory: he began the year on a high by winning his second Australian Open (and third Grand Slam tournament). Then came an extended barren period as he served a three-month ban after testing positive for tiny amounts of the banned anabolic steroid clostebol in March 2024. Re-emerging on the red dirt of Rome, he reached the final both there and at Roland Garros, falling to Alcaraz in both, the latter final a heartbreaker for Sinner in which he let three championship points slip. He may have shaken off the clay but the disappointment may still be lingering.
The nearly men
Could this be the year of towering German metronome Alexander Zverev, mercurial Russian octopus Daniil Medvedev or great American hope Taylor Fritz? Will it be Italy’s 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini or his fast-rising compatriot Lorenzo Musetti (one of the last exponents of the single-handed backhand)? Could unpredictable Kazakh Alexander Bublik, surprise winner of Germany grass-court tournament Halle a week ago, do the unthinkable? The bookies would say no, but the Wimbledon men’s competition is overdue an upset — the most recent one arguably being Goran Ivanišević’s emotional late-career triumph in 2001.
The Brits
Jack Draper is the most improved player of the past 12 months, rising from 29 in the world rankings to 4 and snatching his biggest tournament win at California’s Indian Wells along the way. With a big serve and sure-handed volleys he has proved his prowess on grass in the past, having beaten both Alcaraz and Sinner at Queen’s but has yet to do it at Wimbledon. He has never made it past the second round and was downed by fellow Brit Cameron Norrie last year. This year brings another concern: tonsillitis, which hampered his run at Queen’s. Will he have recovered in time to give a full-throated performance at Wimbledon?
On the women’s side, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu still steals most of the focus and will be hoping to better her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, but her fitness and results have both been patchy so far this year. British number two Katie Boulter will also be looking to make an impression.
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
The statuesque Belarusian number one has regularly swept all before her in the past few years — but not yet at Wimbledon. A shoulder injury kept her out of last year’s competition. With her serves clocking in at up to 133mph, there is no sign of that this year. A greater concern is her nerve in the biggest moments. Sabalenka had seemingly conquered the doubts that used to plague her as the finish line neared, but the old demons have recently resurfaced at inopportune moments: in the Australian Open final against Madison Keys and the French Open final against Coco Gauff. The only player capable of stopping her might be Sabalenka herself.
The Czechs
Name two current top female tennis players. Go on. Chances are the two names leaping from your tongue were not Barbora Krejčíková and Markéta Vondroušová — unless perhaps you happen to be Czech. Yet these are the two most recent Wimbledon ladies’ champions.
Success has proved difficult to sustain. Since taking the 2024 title, Krejčíková has struggled with a back injury, hopefully not sustained lifting the exquisite Venus Rosewater Dish, and only days ago pulled out of the Eastbourne tournament with a thigh issue. Vondroušová too has had quiet spells since her surprise 2023 triumph, losing in Wimbledon’s first round last year, but there are signs of resurgence. Two weeks ago in Berlin, she outfoxed Sabalenka with her less powerful but guile-filled game of strategic spins and off-pace balls. No one will want to come up against her in SW19.
Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
The 2022 champion has had a turbulent 12 months both on court and off. Last September she split from her longtime coach and sometime boyfriend Stefano Vukov and hired 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević soon thereafter. But it didn’t stick. In January she rehired Vukov, and Ivanišević left the team. Vukov is currently serving a 12-month ban for breaching the Women’s Tennis Association’s Code of Conduct, though both he and Rybakina have said she was never mistreated by him. Unsurprisingly, her results have suffered, but she won her first title in more than a year in Strasbourg in April and lost narrowly to Sabalenka in Berlin after being up four match points. With laser-like groundstrokes and a flat, powerful serve, she has the game to beat anyone.
Iga Świątek (Poland)
Many eyes will be trained on the topspin-heavy Pole — but not for the best reasons. Having amassed five Grand Slam titles by the age of 23 (four at Roland Garros), Świątek has this year shown concerning signs of frailty. Usually dominant on the clay, she failed to win any titles this spring. Her best run here remains to the 2023 quarter-finals. Could her earlier than usual exit from the red powder of Paris have given her more time to adapt to the greens of London?
The Americans
The US has not produced a Wimbledon singles winner since Serena Williams in 2016 (the men have to look back far further to Pete Sampras in 2000). Leading the charge in 2025 are second seed Coco Gauff, who just lifted her first Roland Garros trophy, and Madison Keys, who did similar in Melbourne in January. Neither has ever looked wholly convincing on grass, but there is momentum behind them this year and a small army of second stringers: Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Amanda Anisimova and more.
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