The best players in the world are heading for the All-England Club over the next couple of weeks where Jannik Sinner is the man to beat in the Wimbledon men's singles.
The Italian is the world No.1 and defending champion, dropping just one set throughout a stunning fortnight last year to win the title for the first time.
At 4/7 Sinner is the red-hot favourite though the likes of Brad Shelton and Francisco Cerundolo head to South West London after grass-court wins, Alexander Zverev must be on top of the world after landing the French Open and could you rule out the great Novak Djokovic.
Selections
Shelton can serve up a problem for the rest
The progression with Ben Shelton on the Wimbledon grass is there for all to see and back the 23-year-old to continue that trajectory this year.
On debut in 2023 the big-serving American reached round two. Twelve months later he won three five-set slogs before succumbing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner. And last summer he went one better before losing in the quarter-finals, again to Sinner.
To his relief, and courtesy of being seeded No.4, Shelton is in the opposite half of the draw to the Italian and that looks to give him an outstanding chance of winning a first Grand Slam.
A big serve is key to success on grass, even at this year’s Wimbledon where, baked by a hot summer, the courts could be a tad slower than usual.
The left-hander has that and wins so many service games on slicker surfaces than it negates his struggles to break opponents.
He arrives at the All-England Club in great nick having beaten Jiri Lehecka and Taylor Fritz among others to win on grass in Stuttgart, which he followed up with a run to the last eight at Halle.
This is a player who can definitely outrun his odds.
Minaur a major threat on biggest stage
Australia’s Alex de Minaur has reached the quarter-finals in six of his last nine Grand Slams which suggests a show of consistency which has to make him a threat.
De Minaur is a four-time grass-court finalist – which shows a critical liking for a surface many of his rivals simply abhor – memorably winning at Eastbourne in 2021.
And this summer he has flourished on the green stuff once more, reaching the final is Rosmalen in the Netherlands where he enjoyed a trio of straight-set wins before getting pipped by Poland’s Kamil Majchzrak.
A week later at Queen’s he managed a couple of wins before losing to American dangerman Brandon Nakashima in the quarters.
De Minaur is super-fit, super-disciplined and happy to dictate from the baseline, even on grass, where his record suggests it’s a tactic that works just fine for this 40/1 shot.
Take a swing at rising US star Nakashima
Talking of Brandon Nakashima, if there’s a danger man at three-figure odds who can get into any final-reaching conversation it could be him.
He is in the same half of the draw as Sinner and Novak Djokovic which are clear negatives but his run to the semis at Queen’s where he was touched off by eventual winner Francisco Cerundolo was eye-catching.
Nakashima beat top seed De Minaur to get there and is ready to build on back-to-back round three runs at Wimbledon.
