Aryna Sabalenka wins Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek finds her feet, Coco Gauff leads US charge in our WTA grass court season predictions

The clay court season is over for now, and it is fair to say it was a successful spring for one woman in particular.

Iga Swiatek has won her last 19 matches and after WTA 1000 titles in Madrid and Rome, captured a fourth French Open title last weekend.

However, now it is time for a different challenge for her and the rest of the field, with the grass season getting underway – and culminating at Wimbledon .

As things kick off, we make our five big WTA predictions for the next month.

Sabalenka Wimbledon winner

Aryna Sabalenka’s Grand Slam semi-final streak came to an unfortunate end at Roland Garros, the world No 3 affected by illness in her loss to Mirra Andreeva.

Before that match, she had played superbly, and finals in Rome and Madrid demonstrated she was back to her best after a post- Australian Open dip.

The Belarusian has a game tailormade for grass, with a huge serve and power off both wings and has done well at Wimbledon in her last two appearances, reaching the last four in 2021 and 2023.

Former world No 1 Sabalenka is a strong Slam competitor, and we’re backing her to go all the way at SW19 this season.

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Swiatek to find her feat

Grass isn’t Swiatek’s happiest hunting ground, but after such a strong season we’re expecting big things from the world No 1.

The Pole will be full of confidence after winning the French Open – her fifth Slam, and fifth title of 2024 – and is optimistic about her upcoming grass season.

Swiatek is set to play at the stacked WTA 500 event in Berlin next week before heading to the All England Club, where she made the last eight for the first time in 2023.

Winning the title might be a push, but expect career-best performances on grass from the WTA’s dominant force.

American success

This is a stellar time for US women’s tennis, with five players – led by new world No 2 Coco Gauff – inside the top 20 of the WTA Rankings.

And we’re expecting Gauff to lead a successful spell for American tennis over the coming weeks.

The US No 1 will be among the leading contenders for Wimbledon and her grass-court warm-up events, while Danielle Collins and Madison Keys are well-placed to continue their recent form.

Jessica Pegula could be set for a strong return post-injury while rising star Emma Navarro is another name to watch over the coming month.

Jabeur renaissance

2024 has largely been a torrid season for former world No 2 Ons Jabeur , who is outside of the top 20 in the WTA Race to Riyadh.

However, the Tunisian thrives on the grass, with back-to-back Wimbledon finals to her name, and titles in Birmingham and Berlin in her trophy cabinet.

The world No 10 played her best tennis of the season at Roland Garros on her way to the quarter-final and looks well-placed for another strong grass-court campaign.

Jabeur is the top seed and favourite in Nottingham this week, and no one will want to play her on this surface.

Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu, Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur lead five WTA stars to watch this grass season

SW19 surprise

Wimbledon has certainly thrown up some big surprises in recent years, none bigger than Marketa Vondrousova’s shock run to the title 12 months ago.

Though we’re sticking by our Sabalenka prediction, there will likely be another surprise package that goes deep at the All England Club.

It has been 15 years since the top four seeds at a women’s major all made the last four, and we don’t expect that to change at SW19 this year.

Expect a very surprising semi-finalist to work their way deep into the draw.

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