10 of the headline acts at this year’s Wimbledon

A few familiar names will be missing from Wimbledon this year but the competition is set to be just as fierce for the big titles.

Ashleigh Barty’s retirement means there will be no defending champion in what remains a wide open women’s field, while Novak Djokovic bids for a fourth successive men’s singles title and seventh overall.

Here, the PA news agency picks out 10 players to watch at the All England Club.

Speculation was growing that Williams may have headed, unannounced, into retirement having not been seen on a tennis court since suffering a thigh injury early in her first-round match at Wimbledon 12 months ago and withdrawing in tears. But a wild card sees her back on the big stage and resuming her chase for a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title. She would surely not have got on a plane if she did not believe she had another major title in her, but it will be a huge ask.

Barty’s shock retirement looked set to send the women’s game into another period of flux but instead her successor, 21-year-old Swiatek, has dominated like no one since Williams. The Pole goes into Wimbledon on a 35-match winning streak taking in six titles, including a second grand slam crown at Roland Garros. Swiatek is a former Wimbledon junior champion but is still inexperienced on grass, while a minor shoulder problem has kept her out since Paris.

Tunisian trailblazer Jabeur has had an excellent 12 months since winning the title in Birmingham last summer and then reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals. She is now up to three in the world rankings after a fine clay-court campaign and then another grass-court title in Berlin last week. Her unorthodox game is well suited to the lawns of SW19 and she will hope to learn from the French