Wimbledon 2021 women's singles preview: Serena Williams sets sights on number 24, Angelique Kerber hits form

After a two-year absence, enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the scent of freshly cut grass, strawberries and cream are in the air once again, as tennis dons its whites for the return of Wimbledon. The women’s singles draw is as exciting as ever, and while there are a couple of noticeable absences, in the shape of Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka, there are still several thrilling ties to look forward to. Ahead of Wimbledon, Firstpost.com takes a look at the women’s singles draw and (bravely/foolishly) attempts to determine the potential outcome of all four quarters: First Quarter The first name that really pops out in this quarter is that of current World No 1 Ashleigh Barty, and in almost any other competition, her presence in a quarter would automatically make her the favourite to qualify. At Wimbledon, however, that is not the case. While her favourite surface to play on is grass, Barty has won just one title on the surface, i.e. the Birmingham Classic in 2019, and at Wimbledon, she has never progressed beyond the fourth round. Barty will begin against Carla Suarez Navarro, who, like the Australian, is playing in her first tournament after the French Open, meaning neither player will have the benefit of having played a few practice matches on grass. Barty could face the UK’s own Johanna Konta in the third round, who is coming off a memorable title-winning run at Nottingham. The winner of this contest will likely face Roland Garros winner Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round. Krejcikova is smack dab in the middle of an incredible winning run which has seen her win both the Internationaux de Strasbourg and French Open titles, so she should have bags of confidence, but her record at Wimbledon is quite poor, and she’s never gotten past the first round in the singles competition. In the other half of the draw, fifth-seed Bianca Andreescu will kick things off against Alize Cornet, who defeated her in straight sets at the grass-court tournament in Berlin. Should Andreescu manage to make her way through this first challenge, she will likely run into Jelena Ostapenko in the third round, who only just won the Eastbourne International . The winner of this match-up could face Anett Kontaveit in the fourth round, who played against both of them at Eastbourne. Kontaveit herself will have to contend with the possibility of a third-round encounter against Victoria Azarenka, so this quarter really is littered with pitfalls.

First-round matches to watch: Anett Kontaveit vs Marketa Vondrousova, Bianca Andreescu vs Alize Cornet Potential semi-finalist: Barbora Krejcikova

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Second Quarter Serena Williams is a formidable player on any surface, but there’s something about the American playing on grass courts that just warms the cockles of one’s heart. Williams will continue her quest for a 24th Grand Slam title and an eighth Wimbledon title with a match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, before a potential third-round tie against familiar foe Angelique Kerber. Kerber has a decent record at Wimbledon, having won the tournament in 2018 and reached the final a couple of years before that. She’s also in a great run of form at the moment, which has seen her claim the title at Bad Homburg , and she could prove to be a tough nut for Williams to crack. The winner of their battle will face one of either Coco Gauff or Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, both of whom are no pushovers.

Elsewhere, third seed Elina Svitolina will begin her campaign against Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, after which she faces the possibility of running into Paula Badosa in the third round. Badosa has had a pretty decent year so far, with good performances in Lyon, Charleston, Madrid and Roland Garros, as well as a title at the Serbia Open. Also in this portion of the draw is the losing French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who is a former quarter-finalist at Wimbledon.

First-round matches to watch: Elina Svitolina vs Alison Van Uytvanck Potential semi-finalist: Serena Williams

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Third Quarter This quarter is stuffed to the gills with interesting match-ups, and where better to begin than with two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova. Kvitova is up against it from the get-go, facing off against Sloane Stephens in her opening match. She’s likely to run into is Jessica Pegula in the third round, and in the fourth, she could be up against compatriot Karolina Pliskova. Pliskova herself has a tough first-round match, in which she will face French Open semi-finalist Tamara Zidansek, followed by a potential second-round meeting with Donna Vekic and a third-round contest against Alison Riske. [caption id=“attachment_9756351” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of Petra Kvitova. Reuters[/caption] Meanwhile, in the other half of this quarter, the fourth seed Sofia Kenin has a fairly straightforward first-round match against qualifier Wang Xinyu of China, but could run into some trouble in the third round in the shape of Veronika Kudermetova or Danielle Collins. Should Kenin navigate her way through this contest, a fourth-round fixture against either Madison Keys or Elise Mertens could be lying in wait. Liudmila Samsonova has also given herself a great shout as a dark horse with her performance in Berlin , where she beat the likes of Bencic, Azarenka and Keys enroute to her first singles title, which earned her a Wimbledon wildcard.

First-round matches to watch: Petra Kvitova vs Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova vs Tamara Zidansek Potential semi-finalist: Petra Kvitova

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Fourth Quarter French Open 2020 winner Iga Swiatek was expected to impress in her first Roland Garros as defending champion, but the Polish star’s bid to retain her title was scuppered by Maria Sakkari in the quarter-finals. Since then, she’s played just the one tournament, i.e. the Eastbourne International, in which she was knocked out fairly early on by Daria Kasatkina, so she’ll be looking to bounce right back with a good performance at Wimbledon. Her first match sees her take on Hsieh Su-wei, after which she could be tested in a potential third-round contest against Petra Martic. The most likely opponent for Swiatek in the fourth round is Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, who recently became the first Arab woman to win a WTA title after dropping just one set on her way to the Birmingham Classic trophy. Of course, that is not to say that Jabeur’s path to the fourth round will be easy, seeing as she will probably have to face five-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams in the second round and 2017 winner Garbine Muguruza in the third round. Both Muguruza and Williams are seasoned pros, but both have suffered some pretty indifferent form of late, while Jabeur has proven in recent months that she can hang with some real heavy hitters. [caption id=“attachment_9736671” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of Ons Jabeur. AP[/caption] Aryna Sabalenka is another player who will be out to prove her critics wrong after a disappointing showing at Roland Garros. Sabalenka has never managed to cross the second round at Wimbledon, but this time around, it should be a fairly cut and dry affair, seeing as she won’t be playing a player ranked in the top 100 until at least the third round. A major test for her could be a fourth-round match against Sakkari, who recently made it to the semi-finals of Roland Garros.

First-round matches to watch: Venus Williams vs Mihaela Buzarnescu Potential semi-finalist: Ons Jabeur