Serena Williams (USA)
She made a shocking exit from the French Open in the first round, but before then Serena had a perfect record on clay this year and she wasn’t just beating the opposition, she was demolishing them. She’s always a contender. And don’t forget she’s got the most incredible serve, which is a big factor on grass. But I wonder if the other players aren’t quite as intimidated by Serena as they once were, and perhaps her habit of taking time off and only returning for the major tournaments is catching up with her. I think the women’s game has turned a corner recently, with more variety and younger players coming through. The competition is fierce!

Age: 30
World Ranking: 6
Grand Slam titles: 13
Best Wimbledon: Champion 2002/3/9/10

Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)
She played out of her mind last year to win Wimbledon, and she reached the semi-finals the year before that, so Petra’s an obvious favourite on grass. And she just reached the semis at the French Open, too. She has a beautiful left-handed serve that can really hurt opponents on grass, her backhand is solid as a rock and she has a very powerful forehand. But it can be erratic, so it all depends on how she’s feeling on the day. She’s had an up-and-down year, but seems to be settling into fighting her way through crises.

Age: 22
World Ranking: 4
Grand Slam titles: 1
Best Wimbledon: Champion 2011

Maria Sharapova (Russia)
She won the French and she’s world number one again, so Maria has great confidence at the moment. She’s been playing fantastically well all season, too. Her concentration is tremendous, and as long as her serve is working, she can overpower anyone. But her serve, which she’s had to remodel after a shoulder injury, is fallible and when she’s on her second serve, she can go for too much and lose her nerve. But Maria has so much experience at Wimbledon, and thrives on the attention she gets at all the majors, especially the worldwide attention at Wimbledon.

Age: 25
World Ranking: 1
Grand Slam titles: 4
Best Wimbledon: Champion 2004

Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
She’s had an amazing year, winning the Australian Open in a 26-match unbeaten run and becoming the women’s number one, until Sharapova recently won it back. But she came apart a bit during the clay court season, and she has had some injuries. Because the balls are a little quicker on grass, she can hit those penetrating groundstrokes of hers right through the court. If she gets her act together, she is definitely a potential champion.

Age: 22
World Ranking: 2
Grand Slam titles: 1
Best Wimbledon: Semi-final 2011

Angelique Kerber (Germany)
Angelique is my outside bet this year. She reached the semi-finals of the US Open last year, and this year she has improved a lot. She has also got the same kind of damaging left-handed serve as Kvitova and a whopper of a forehand. She’s a real fighter and she’s also fitter. The one area she still needs to improve is her speed around the court, but as she gets more confident, with more matchplay and working on her all-round game, she will continue to improve.

Age: 24
World Ranking: 9
Grand Slam titles: 0
Best Wimbledon: Third round 2010