Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the season and the highlight of the summer for many sporting fans, gets underway from the All England Club on Monday.
The 2024 Championships will be headlined by the fledgling rivalry of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have each won one of the opening two Grand Slam titles of the year and are expected to compete at the top of the men’s game for many years to come.
Alcaraz is the defending Wimbledon champion and is +175 to retain his crown, while this season’s Australian Open hero Sinner is also available to back at +175.
However, 24-time Grand Slam champion and seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic may have something to say on proceedings and he has a +400 chance.
The women’s event is far less conclusive and the betting is being dominated by the current best four female players on the planet.
Aryna Sabalenka heads the way at +275, with world number one Iga Swaitek +350, 2022 winner Elena Rybakina +450 and American talent Coco Gauff +600.
While Alcaraz is the defending champion and has claimed his three Grand Slam titles in the last seven major events, which includes the French Open earlier this month, Sinner may be the man to side with.
The Italian long threatened to secure Grand Slam silverware before his breakthrough at the Australian Open in January and his power-packed approach is one that should be well-suited to the hallowed turf of Wimbledon.
Sinner was beaten in straight sets by Djokovic in last season’s semi-final but there are strong hopes that he can fare better this time around.
The 22-year-old made the final four of the French Open and, although beaten in a five-set epic by Alcaraz, the Spaniard is a much classier clay-court operator.
Even so, Sinner had played only seven warm-up matches on the clay after being forced to withdraw from Madrid before missing his home event in Rome through injury.
Therefore, going so deep in Paris was a commendable effort and his Wimbledon preparations have gone far more swimmingly, with him signing off his build-up by securing a grass-court title in Halle.
The big-serving Sinner is going to be a threat to all and, having won 38 of his 41 completed matches this year, he may even warrant favouritism.
If there is to be an upset at this year’s Wimbledon then perhaps Hubert Hurkacz can be the man to spring it.
Hurkacz has quickly become one of the most consistent performers on the ATP Tour and the Polish world number seven was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2021.
A run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and a fourth-round appearance at the French Open this season show him to be performing every bit as well.
The 27-year-old finished runner-up to Sinner in Halle last time out but he was only narrowly beaten 7-6 7-6 and his quarter-final win over Alexander Zverev reads especially well.
Rybakina claimed her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon two seasons ago and, of those at the top of the betting, her claims may be the strongest.
The big-serving Kazakhstani has a game that is well-suited to the grass and her three appearances at Wimbledon have not only featured a title, but a fourth-round effort and a quarter-final appearance too.
Rybakina has missed warm-up events in Berlin and Eastbourne but it was illness cited in Germany before a change in schedule for the latter, which suggests she should be fit and raring to go at the All England Club.
World number one Swiatek has to show she is as capable on the grass as she is the clay and on a hard court, with her best Wimbledon effort to date being a quarter-final appearance.
Sabalenka has had a stop-start season and is without silverware since the Australian Open in January, while Gauff, apart from winning the US Open in 2023, has a habit of going deep without getting over the line.
Jabeur withdrew when trailing Gauff by a set in her latest grass-court event in Berlin, having also been beaten in the last eight at the Nottingham Open, but she would be a strong title contender if turning up in peak condition.
The Tunisian is edging closer, having finished runner-up in three Grand Slam events including at Wimbledon in each of the last two seasons.
She clearly thrives under these conditions and it was her quarter-final run at the French Open earlier this month which suggests she is playing every bit as well as she has in previous years.
The 29-year-old has made the last eight in six of her last 12 Grand Slam appearances, highlighting her consistency, and the 10th seed is someone nobody will want to come up against on this surface.
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Carlos Alcaraz | +175 |
Jannik Sinner | +175 |
Novak Djokovic | +400 |
Alexander Zverev | +1400 |
Daniil Medvedev | +1600 |
Hubert Hurkacz | +1600 |
Matteo Berrettini | +2000 |
Aryna Sabalenka | +275 |
Iga Swiatek | +350 |
Elena Rybakina | +450 |
Coco Gauff | +600 |
Naomi Osaka | +1200 |
Marketa Vondrousova | +1400 |
Ons Jabeur | +1600 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.