WIMBLEDON 2024 EARLY PREVIEW

The grass season is the shortest of all the tennis seasons. The season begins on the hard courts in Australia and stays on hard courts until April, when we switch to clay for a three month stint. 

Only on June 10th this year, a mere 16 days ago, did we switch to Grass Courts in preparation for the biggest tournament of them all at SW19.

Players have three weeks to prep for the big one and must make serious choices about the quality and quantity of tennis they wish to play in preparation  – some will play none at all while others will play 3 tournaments in three weeks to try gain an advantage in the early rounds at the All England Club.

Wimbledon will begin on Monday July 1st and finish on Sunday 14th with the Men’s Final on that day, and, like every other year, will be free to watch on the BBC.

Jannik Sinner enters the tournament as the favourite, currently 2.86 on the Betfair Exchange. Sinner is the current number one in the world after a stellar season where he won the Australian Open and has won four titles in total in 2024. 

Most notably, Sinner won on the grass at Halle this year, beating Hurkacz in the final, which bodes very well for him in Wimbledon. 

Other winners on the grass in 2024 are Tommy Paul (Queens), Jack Draper (Stuttgart) and Alex De Minaur (Hertogenbosch).

Novak Djokovic hasn’t made an announcement about his fitness so far but even with all the doubt, he’s still the third favourite on the Betfair Exchange, currently priced at 5.4.

There isn’t huge confidence in the home players this year. Andy Murray will miss out due to injury, while Dan Evans is 1000 and Cameron Norrie is 600 on the exchange. Britain’s best hope will be Jack Draper at odds of 27 on the Exchange, but a lot will depend on the draw coming Friday of this week.

On the ladies side, there are a few form players to mention. Winners on this season’s grass court circuit include Samsonova (Libema Open), Katie Boulter (Nottingham), Putintseva (Birmingham) and Pegula (Berlin).

All will have a major influence on the outcome of the destination of the Venus Rosewater Dish, and all will be confident that they can lift the trophy on the 13th July, but there will be stern opposition every step of the way.

Iga Swiatek, the form player on the WTA tour this year, is back again to try win her first title on the Wimbledon grass. The current French Open Champion has never progressed beyond the quarter final here and will be desperate to do so. 

Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova, the current world number 6 was the first unseeded player to win the women’s title.

She beat Ons Jabeur in the final in 2024 – the Tunisian, who is a firm fan favourite here, will be looking to make 3 finals in a row, but ultimately come away as champion at last. Jabeur is currently trading at 17.5 on the exchange, while Vondrousova is an outsider at 60 to retain her title.

Swiatek is second favourite at 5.1, while the overall, if only slight, favourite is Australian Open Champion Aryna Sabalenka at odds on 5. Breathing down their necks will be 2022 Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina and current US Open Champion Coco  Gauff.

There will be some surprises along the way and both men’s and women’s are closer that they’ve ever been. Look out for my article on Saturday when we’ll know the draw and can map out possible routes to the finals for all the major players, along with some potential banana skins and dark horses. 

If there’s anything you wish to add, please leave a comment.

Good Luck,

Patrick.