Our regular contributor, Alex Mann, is back with a Wimbledon 2023 Women’s Preview. Who do you think will win?

Wimbledon 2023 Women’s Preview

Iga, Aryna or Elena? Is this year’s women’s tournament a three-way horse race between the top three players in the world or will we see someone else break the stranglehold? You can check out the Wimbledon 2023 Ladies Singles Draw here

Contenders for Wimbledon 2023 Ladies title

Iga Swiatek

Can the world number 1 add a fifth major title to her collection and first on grass? Having picked up her third title at Roland Garros, Swiatek will look to continue this success at the All England Club. If you remember, it was last year on the courts of Wimbledon where her 37-match winning streak ended against Alize Cornet. Although she hasn’t reached the heights of last year, she is still undoubtedly the best player in the world. Her heavy topspin game is more suited to clay and hard courts, but she is by no means a stranger to grass, having picked up the girl’s singles title in 2018 and reached the fourth round of the women’s tournament in 2021. Will Swiatek win consecutive major titles for the first time in her career?

Aryna Sabalenka

One of the few players with a better grass-court game than the world number 1 is Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka could not compete last year due to Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players, so this may give her extra motivation to win her first title at SW19. She reached the semi-final in 2021, narrowly losing out to Karolina Pliskova. Having overcome her serving yips, she is coming into the tournament for the first time as a major singles champion, winning the Australian Open in January 2023. This could well and truly be Aryna’s year.

Elena Rybakina

Can Elena Rybakina join Serena and Venus Williams and Steffi Graf as the only women to have successfully defended the Wimbledon Ladies title in the last 20 years? Rybakina’s game is made of grass. Big serve, crushing groundstrokes which she used to take apart the draw last year. This year Rybakina has shown why her Wimbledon victory was no fluke, reaching the Australian Open final, losing out to Sabalenka and by winning two Masters 1000 titles. However, this year-round, there is concern over her health. She unexpectedly pulled out of Roland Garros with a virus and hasn’t seemed to have fully recovered since. If she can recover in time for the start of the tournament, don’t be surprised if she picks up her second title at SW19.

Ons Jabeur

Last year’s Wimbledon finalist hasn’t reached the heights of her 2021 season. Having said this, Jabeur is the kind of player who can pull her game together when you are least expecting it. Her game suits the grass, with her deadly drop-shots and slick slices, which can be a nightmare for any player.

Coco Guaff

I can’t believe it was four years ago since a then 15-year-old Coco Guaff had her breakout performance when she defeated 5-time singles champion, Venus Williams in the first round. Now 19, is she ready to win her first major title? She is very comfortable on the grass, and her results have shown this. In her last three appearances at the All England Club, she has lost to Amanda Anisimova, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber, the latter two who are Wimbledon champions.

Petra Kvitova

The veteran Kvitova seems to be having a renaissance this year. Now back in the world’s top 10, she has just won her sixth grass-court title to add to her victory at the Masters 1000 event in Miami at the beginning of the year. Both of Kvitova’s major titles have come at Wimbledon in 2011, and 2014, so knows what it takes to win on the grass. However, in recent years Kvitova has struggled to replicate her hard-hitting lefty game in the majors. She hasn’t reached the quarter-final stage of Wimbledon since 2014. Can she change this nine years later?

Jelena Ostapenko

Arguably one of the biggest ball-strikers on tour, Ostapenko has the game to blow you off any court. Since winning the French Open in 2017, the Latvian has struggled with consistency but has had a very solid year in 2023. She reached the quarter-final of the Australian Open and last week won the grass-court title in Birmingham. Who knows how far she could go if Ostapenko can continue this recent grass-court success.

Babora Krejcikova

The triple threat Krejcikova has one of the most all-round games on tour. She has won major titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles and her game certainly suits the grass. Although she had a disappointing first-round loss at Roland Garros, she reached the Birmingham Classic final last week, so is in form. Her best singles result at Wimbledon was in 2021 when she reached the fourth-round, losing out to eventual champion Ash Barty. Krejcikova is one to look out for this fortnight.

Ones to watch at the Wimbledon Ladies tournament 2023

Donna Vekic

The 26-year-old is probably having the best season of her career, having reached the quarter-final of the Australian Open and consistently reaching the latter stages of the tournaments. She reached her first grass-court title back in 2013. More recently, she lost out to Kvitova in the final of last week’s grass-court tournament in Berlin.

Karolina Muchova

Coming back from injury, she reached last month’s French Open final, narrowly losing out to Swiatek. She is a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist, so she will be a threat.

Caroline Garcia

Garcia has won three grass-court titles in her career and reached the round of 16 of Wimbledon twice. If her serve is firing, it will be hard for any player to stop her.

Daria Kasatkina

The ever-exciting Daria Kasatkina has had previous success on the grass, reaching the quarter-final stage of Wimbledon in 2018. Kasatkina’s game is built around her heavy topspin forehand. Throw in some eloquent drop-shots and slices, you will never get the same ball from Kasatkina. Top players, watch out! Kasatkina’s racquet.

Karolina Pliskova

The former number 1 has had an inconsistent year but reached the Wimbledon final in 2021, losing out to Ash Barty, so has the experience and the game to do damage at this year’s tournament. Karolina Pliskova’s racquet.

What do you think about this Wimbledon 2023 Women’s Preview? Do you have any predictions to share?