Wimbledon semi-finalists Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz lead our five ATP stars to watch this grass court season

The clay season is over – for now – with Carlos Alcaraz proving triumphant at the French Open this weekend.

It was a third Grand Slam title for the world No 2 but there will be no extended celebrations for him, with a stacked grass court season underway – with his Wimbledon title defence looming.

But there are plenty of players who could make their mark over the next month – we look at five men to watch this swing.

Hubert Hurkacz

Hurkacz’s French Open exit was bizarre, with the Pole seemingly looking to unionise with Grigor Dimitrov and remove an umpire in his round four defeat.

But, controversy aside, the world No 8 has been in fine form in 2024, and Hurkacz will be a formidable opponent for everyone on grass.

His best Grand Slam result came at Wimbledon three years ago, reaching the last four, while he was also the champion in Halle in 2022.

Playing with confidence and possessing one of the biggest serves on tour, expect Hurkacz to cause some trouble this month.

Alex de Minaur

One of the most-improved ATP players outside the past 12 months, de Minaur is a strong grass-court player and looks primed to be a dangerous opponent over the next few months.

In career-best form, the world No 9 reached the fourth round at SW19 in 2022 and is a former champion in Eastbourne – alongside being a runner-up at Queen’s last season.

The Australian is playing in s-Hertogenbosch this week and will then be the second seed on his return to the Queen’s Club next week.

Fresh off a run to the French Open last eight, de Minaur will be tough to beat on this surface this summer.

Grigor Dimitrov

A perennial grass court fan favourite, Dimitrov is playing his best tennis in years and is undoubtedly a Wimbledon dark horse in 2024.

The Bulgarian , currently 10th in the ATP Rankings, was a semi-finalist at the All England Club ten years ago and was also champion at Queen’s that same year.

Former world No 3 Dimitrov will be back at Queen’s this summer and, being the third seed, will fancy his chances of going deep ahead of Wimbledon.

Serving well and with his backhand looking almost as good as ever, he might be the most fun player to watch this swing.

13 active ATP players to reach every Grand Slam quarter-final: Grigor Dimitrov joins list at French Open

Ben Shelton

Watching rising star Shelton adapt to tour life over the past 15 months has been fascinating, and the grass season provides another intriguing test for the American.

He had practically no experience on this surface last year, and early exits at Queen’s and Wimbledon were hardly a surprise.

However, he is a much-improved player a year on, and it will be interesting to see if he can fare any better this summer.

With a big serve and huge groundstrokes, he can be a significant threat.

Felix Auger-Aliassime

After a resurgent clay season saw him reach the Madrid Open final and the second week of Roland Garros, can Auger-Aliassime continue his promising form on grass?

The Canadian has had some success on the surface previously, reaching two finals in Stuttgart and also the quarter-final of Wimbledon in 2021.

Now back inside the top 20, Auger-Aliassime has a serve that will win him plenty of points on the fast surface and has experience on it.

We’ll have to see whether his clay rise was a fluke, or whether he is back as a force in the men’s game.

ATP Rankings: Jannik Sinner crowned new world No 1 as Novak Djokovic suffers double setback, Andy Murray -22