Five top contenders for the Wimbledon women's crown

Five top contenders for the women's title at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.

IGA SWIATEK (POLAND)

* World ranking: 1

There will be a sense of deja vu for Swiatek who arrives at the All England Club as world number one and fresh from her French Open triumph for the second year running, but she will hope to master Wimbledon's slick lawns this time around.

Swiatek, who won the Wimbledon junior title in 2018, has dominated the tour since replacing the retired Ash Barty as world number one in April but the majority of her success has come on hardcourts and clay.

The 22-year-old exited last year's Championships in the third round and is yet to demonstrate her strengths consistently on grass. Swiatek has said she expects to be "uncomfortable" on the surface.

Swiatek began her preparations for Wimbledon, where her best result is a fourth-round appearance in 2021, with a comeback win at her Bad Homburg opener this week as she aims to solve the grasscourt puzzle.

ARYNA SABALENKA (BELARUS)

* World ranking: 2

The big-hitting Belarusian has polished her game this year and become less erratic with her shot-making, which helped her win the Australian Open in January.

The 25-year-old has also reduced what seemed to be an insurmountable gap to top-ranked Iga Swiatek during the claycourt swing, beating her in the Madrid final, but was stunned in the French Open semi-finals by Karolina Muchova.

A Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2021, Sabalenka could not compete at last year's Championships due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players and will need to block out the noise to win a second major this year.

Sabalenka, who will compete under a neutral flag, was in the spotlight at Roland Garros when her stance on the war was questioned and has since