Wimbledon news: Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and the top women’s singles contenders at SW19
The Wimbledon Championships is finally upon us and, unlike the men’s side of the tournament, there does not appear to be a clear favourite for the women’s title this year.
Barbora Krejčíková is the defending champion, although the Czech star has not been in action for most of this season after suffering a back injury.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Charlie Williams takes a look at the top five contenders to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish in the Ladies’ Singles.
Aryna Sabalenka
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka will be desperate to go one better at SW19 than she did at last month’s French Open, where she lost the final to Coco Gauff.
The 27-year-old from Minsk in Belarus joined the WTA tour in 2017 and made her Wimbledon debut that same year.
Sabalenka has been the top women’s player since October 2024.
Sabalenka’s season so far
So far this season, Sabalenka has won hard-court titles at the Brisbane International and Miami Open and a clay-court title at the Madrid Open.
Sabelenka has reached the final of both Grand Slams this year, losing to Madison Keys at the Australian Open and Gauff at Roland Garros.
Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff, the world No.2 and newly crowned Roland Garros champion, will likely be keen to improve on her fourth-round best at Wimbledon.
Gauff first made waves in the sport by beating the legendary Venus Williams in the first round at SW19 back in 2019.
Since that day, the 21-year-old American has gone on to become one of the best tennis players on the women’s tour, winning her first Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in New York in 2023.
Gauff’s season so far
Gauff has just the one singles title this season and that was at Roland Garros.
Despite losing the first set in a tie-break, Gauff beat top-seed Sabalenka in three sets to lift her first French Open title.
She has made two other finals this season, in Rome and in Madrid, with both on clay.
Recently, in the Florida native’s first match since winning the title in Paris, she lost in straight sets to world No.49 Xinyu Wang of China.
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Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula currently finds herself at a career-high ranking of world No.3 thanks to a good run of form that began last year with singles titles in Toronto and Berlin.
The 31-year-old from New York will now look to build up some momentum at Wimbledon after a disappointing fourth round loss at Roland Garros.
Pegula’s best result at SW19, meanwhile, was back in 2023 where she reached the quarter-finals.
Pegula’s season so far
The American has won two tournaments this season: the hard-court Austin Open in February and the clay-court Charleston Open in April.
Pegula also reached the final of the Miami Open but lost to Sabelenka in straight sets.
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Qinwen Zheng
Qinwen Zheng, who hails from Hubei Province in China, is the current world No.5.
In 2022, the 22-year-old won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award after she climbed up the world rankings in double-quick time.
Zheng went on to enjoy her best season on tour last year as she reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, where she lost in straight sets to Sabalenka.
2024 also saw the Chinese star win the Palermo Open and the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo either side of picking up Olympic gold in the women’s singles in Paris.
Zheng’s season so far
So far this season, Zheng has not reached the heights of yesteryear.
She reached the semi-finals in Rome, where she was beaten in a deciding set by Coco Gauff, and lost out at the quarter-final stage at Indian Wells and in Miami.
In the recent grass-court tournament at Queens, Zheng lost in three sets to American Amanda Anisimova.
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Jasmine Paolini
At SW19, world No.4 Jasmine Paolini will be hoping to do one better than she did in 2024, when the Italian lost the final to Barbora Krejčíková in three sets.
Paolini also made the final of Roland Garros in 2024 but lost to Iga Świątek.
The 29-year-old is a keen doubles player as well, winning nine doubles titles over the last 12 months, the majority of which were achieved with fellow Italian Sara Errani.
Paolini’s season so far
The highlight of Paolini’s season so far was winning the WTA 1000 clay-court tournament in Rome, where she beat Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2 in the final.
In Miami, the Italian reached the semi-finals before losing in straight sets to Sabalenka.
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