Best of the rest: Hurkacz and Paul among dark horses for Wimbledon

Carlos Alcaraz remains a favourite to defend his Wimbledon crown with seven-times champion Novak Djokovic nursing a knee injury but the tune-up tournaments have shown there is a host of pretenders trying to force their way into contention.

Poland has never had a men's Grand Slam singles champion but they will pin their hopes on Hubert Hurkacz after he rose to a career-high seventh in the world this week ahead of the grasscourt major.

Hurkacz's best result in a Grand Slam came when he reached the 2021 Wimbledon semis and the big-hitting 27-year-old made a splash in Halle where he nearly won the title for a second time.

He had been serving well all tournament, sending down nearly 80 aces in five matches, but he was denied the title by world number one Jannik Sinner who did not break his good friend and doubles partner but prevailed in two tiebreaks.

Americans, meanwhile, have won more Grand slam titles than any other country but the United States have not had a men's major winner since Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open.

But Tommy Paul, the new King of Queen's, is a contender to change that statistic.

"We have had a bit of a gap (since Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi won at Wimbledon), but historically and now the Americans like playing on grass," Paul said.

"We play an aggressive game style, I think most of us do, and I think it matches up well with the surface."

Paul picked up his first grasscourt title at the Queen's Club Championship, thus becoming the new American number one.

The 27-year-old dropped only one set in Queen's - against Britain's number one Jack Draper - and said the victory was the "perfect way to go to Wimbledon" where he has never moved past the fourth round.

"Somebody pointed out last week on social media that