Wimbledon 2024: Women's singles power rankings
With the Wimbledon draw being announced, the euphoria around the grasscourt Slam is at its peak. Last year’s winner Marketa Vondrousova is back at SW19 to defend her crown but faces a host of other hopefuls this year.
Some of these names in the Iga Swiatek-led draw have historically done better than others on grass. The field even features two other former champions, excluding Vondrousova, who would be eyeing the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Here, we take a look at the top eight contenders for the Major based on their grasscourt performances over the last three years.
Note: The following formula was used to calculate the power rankings for this year's Wimbledon: (1x points earned in the 2024 grass season + 0.5x points earned in the 2023 grass season + 0.25x points earned in the 2022 grass season).
8. Donna Vekic
Donna Vekic’s flat groundstrokes can be an absolute menace on the low-bouncing grass, and while she has come close to big breakthroughs on grass in the past, she just needs to take that one final step.
The Croat reached the final in Berlin in 2023 and Bad Homburg in 2024 but came up short against the big ball striking of Petra Kvitova and Diana Shnaider respectively.
The one area where Vekic struggles is falling into a passive trap when pitted against opponents who like to hit bigger than her. It’s a shame because that is not her natural game.
A thoroughly aggressive mindset (watch her unravel Elena Rybakina’s game in the Berlin second-round from last year to get a sense of what she’s capable of) and a little push is all she needs to win big on a surface that accentuates her game so well.
7. Katie Boulter
Katie Boulter is testament to the UK’s investment in the grass season. The country is home to half the grass tournaments of the year and home players, having grown up practicing on the lush lawns, tend to do well.
Few, however, have embodied grasscourt expertise quite like Boulter in recent years. No matter her form coming into the swing, she always manages to impress.
The Briton has back-to-back titles (2024 and 2023) in Nottingham to show for besides the Eastbourne quarterfinal from earlier this week. Last year, she came up against an on-song Elena Rybakina in the third round at Wimbledon, but with a little help from the draw, 2024 could well be the year that she makes a splash.
6. Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka has not played too many matches on grass this season. In fact, her withdrawal from Berlin raised eyebrows.
Sabalenka hitting the practice courts at Wimbledon regularly, however, suggests that the move is more precautionary than anything else. There’s little denying that when fully fit, Sabalenka is one of the biggest hitters on the tour. She can blow most opponents off the court and grass rewards that sort of aggression.
Had it not been for Ons Jabeur’s stealth, she would have made the Wimbledon final last year. Back as a two-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka will be motivated to take that step this year.
5. Daria Kasatkina
Daria Kasatkina is one player who has shown a steady upward trajectory on grass over the last few years.
The Russian showed flashes of her capabilities when she made the quarterfinals in Berlin in 2022. She improved on that result last year, making the final at Eastbourne. The final step came this year, with her triumphing win at the same event to lift her first grasscourt title.
Wins over the likes of Jasmine Paolini, Emma Raducanu, and Leylah Fernandez would have filled her with confidence and Kasatkina may just be peaking at the perfect moment.
4. Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula is another player who gives opponents nightmares on grass credit to her flat and pacey groundstrokes.
Success has come her way on the surface. Take the latest title in Berlin for instance. Pegula was unstoppable, winning marathons and sometimes multiple matches in a day. It was because her style of play comes with very little effort. It’s natural for her.
The American staged a solid run, her best yet, at Wimbledon last year by reaching the quarterfinals. She lost to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova, but was one of only two players to take a set off her. It was a tight contest and if a few points here and there had been different, the outcome, not just of that one encounter but the tournament itself, could have been wildly different.
3. Elena Rybakina
When playing at her best, Elena Rybakina can simplify the game of tennis. The serve and first shot put her in control of a rally more often than not and no surface is better suited for that sort of crisp play than the grass.
The Kazakh leads the 2024 leaderboard in terms of aces fired at 267, well ahead of her nearest rival Karolina Pliskova’s 210.
Rybakina withdrew from her match in Berlin after feeling sick, but has maintained that she is fit and ready for Wimbledon. Her breakthrough 2022 run to the title at SW19, followed by a quarterfinal showing 12 months later and a quarterfinal showing in Berlin earlier this month, are still her best grass results in recent years.
2. Wimbledon defending champion Marketa Vondrousova
With a big serve, vicious slice, and a deceptive drop shot at her disposal, Marketa Vondrousova had all the makings of a great grasscourt player.
With the initial euphoria of the Czech’s Wimbledon win last year subsiding, the win looked less shocking than it was initially viewed.
Vondrousova has been unlucky with a number of injuries sidelining her from the sport for extended periods, but her Grand Slam winning potential was clear from the time that she made the French Open final back in 2019.
While the title run at the All England Club remains her only claim to fame, Vondrousova should not be taken lightly. When in full flight, she can be a lot to handle. A return to the venue may bring back the happy memories from last year and set the ball rolling for another big run.
1. Ons Jabeur
If there was one player in this year’s draw who deserved to have their hands on the Venus Rosewater Dish, it would be Ons Jabeur. The Tunisian has lost consecutive Wimbledon finals under wildly different circumstances.
In 2022, she was the breakout player and should have sailed the momentum boat to victory. Alas, Elena Rybakina had other plans.
Cut to 12 months later, she was struggling with form coming into Wimbledon. The SW19 grass, however, ignited a spark in her and she took out the likes of Grand Slam champs Petra Kvitova, Aryna Sabalenka, and Bianca Andreescu en route to another final. The occasion, however, again got the better of Jabeur as she came up short against Marketa Vondrousova.
Despite the double heartbreak, Jabeur is not without a grass trophy. She won the Berlin title in 2022 and has quarterfinal showings at both Nottingham and Berlin this year. Her form may not be the most encouraging, but her stats are promising.
Jabeur’s second only to Osaka in ace per match count and has the variety in her game to turn things around, evidenced by the stellar run from last year.