Wimbledon kicks off Monday, with defending champions Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek in the field. With Carlos Alcaraz out of the tournament with injury, could Sinner pull off a repeat? Or will Novak Djokovic add that final record title to his résumé?
On the women's side, Swiatek hasn't looked to be in top form -- and it feels wide open at the All England Club. Could Aryna Sabalenka win her first major title on grass? Or will an American such as Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff or Madison Keys take advantage of the opportunity?
We polled our experts for their picks and best betting tips.
Who is your women's pick to win the title?
Chris Eubanks: My pick to win the women's draw is Sabalenka. She's No. 1 in the world. She's been the most consistent player on tour for the past couple of years. And she's made some changes to her game over the last year that I think will shine brightly on the grass.
When she brought in Max Mirnyi, she wanted to improve her transition game. It's been about a year, and I think she has become much more comfortable transitioning to the net and finishing points off. That will be hugely important on the grass, and a Wimbledon title is one of the few things in the sport that she hasn't been able to do. You got to think that lifting the trophy here is high on her priority list and she has a great opportunity to do that here.
D'Arcy Maine: This is tough. There isn't an obvious choice here, and none of the recent front-runners have had runaway success on grass thus far this season. Swiatek lost in the opening round of her lone tuneup event on the surface in Bad Homburg. Sabalenka had a catastrophic collapse at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals and got bageled in the deciding set of the semifinals at the Berlin Open. Elena Rybakina, arguably one of the best players on grass in recent years, went 1-2 in her two tournaments on the surface. Mirra Andreeva, the newly crowned French Open champion, lost her only match on grass. As did Gauff, who has never advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club.
So all this to say: feeling confident about a prediction here might be next to impossible. I am --- reluctantly -- picking Sabalenka, largely based on her proven consistency at majors and because she might have a chip on her shoulder after Paris. But truly, it's anyone's guess here.
Wimbledon Women's Odds
Bill Connelly: Well, I can't be any more wrong than I was with my French Open picks, so let's take a swing and go with Pegula. Her Wimbledon history is not great -- she's just 8-6 all time there, and four of those wins came in one run (2023) -- but she has such a good grass-court game, and one of these years, her success on German grass could translate to the grass at the All England Club.