Six women who can win Wimbledon, including in-form Iga Swiatek and local hero Emma Raducanu

Forget the lack of ranking points, the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon 2022 promises to be one of the most exciting yet with no clear winner expected.

Australian Ashleigh Barty will not be defending her 2021 title following her retirement from tennis in March – and with the 2020 Championships canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic – world No 20 Simona Halep is the most recent winner present, following her victory three years ago.

Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Heather Watson, Lily Miyazaki, Katie Swan and Sonay Kartal are among the British contingent handed wildcards, but here are six other players to watch out for at SW19 this year…

There are very few sportspeople in the world who can compare to the great Serena Williams and what she has given to women’s tennis. Comparable to the likes of Tom Brady in the NFL, Tiger Woods in golf and Lewis Hamilton in Formula One – she is the sport’s modern-day GOAT.

As usual, all eyes will be on the 40-year-old this year. The seven-time Wimbledon champion has been handed a wildcard to compete at the Championships, but what she will be capable of this time around is something of an unknown as she hasn’t played professionally since SW19 in 2021.

With 23 Grand Slam titles to her name, it would be ridiculous to write her off, but last year’s showing wasn’t exactly memorable – she severely injured her leg in the opening round against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first set – forcing her withdrawal from the tournament.

Due to her lack of playing time she has fallen to No 1,208 in the world, but she got the chance to get back in the swing of things by playing at Eastbourne this week. ‘[I am excited] to be back on the grass – a surface that has been so good to me throughout my career,’ she