Tuesday 30 June 2015 22:19, UK
The last 48 men's singles Grand Slam titles have been shared between 10 players, so which star can come through and upset the odds at Wimbledon?
Roger Federer (17), Rafael Nadal (14), Novak Djokovic (8) and Britain's Andy Murray (2) have shared an incredible 40 crowns between them since Wimbledon in 2003.
Andy Roddick (2003 US Open), Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open), Marat Safin (2005 Australian Open), Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open), Marin Cilic (2014 US Open) and Stan Wawrinka (2014 Australian Open & 2015 French Open) are the exceptions.
Wawrinka is coming closer to breaking the stranglehold of the so-called 'Big Four' while the likes of Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori are two players touted as the next generation of Grand Slam contenders.
So far this year world No 1 Djokovic has been in awe-inspiring form, winning in Australia, while Murray and Federer have regained their confidence, but Nadal lost his mojo on clay dropping to 10th in the latest world rankings and 'Stan The Man' is showing the kind of consistency to make it the new 'Big Five'.
Quite remarkably, 12 consecutive Wimbledon titles have been won by the 'Big Four' of men's tennis. Lleyton Hewitt, who'll be participating in his final Wimbledon before retirement, was the last man outside of that quartet to win the championship, back in 2002.
Here, we take a look at five players who could potentially cause and upset or two, or potentially even go all the way to Wimbledon glory this summer ...
Stan Wawrinka (Sky Bet odds: 14/1)
Humble page boy Wawrinka has transcended himself into a world class player overnight after struggling against many of the top stars for years. The unassuming Swiss - bar those court jester pyjama shorts, of course - pulled off the masterstroke few thought possible, edging out world No 1 Djokovic, seemingly at the height of his powers, to claim the French Open title this June.
Despite that memorable four-set triumph in Paris, Wawrinka refuses to put himself in the same echelon as tennis' 'Big Four', but his win at Roland Garros certainly, at the very least, nudges him closer and make him a genuine threat for the Wimbledon title despite having never been past the quarter-finals at the All England Club. Stan is thankful to his coach Magnus Norman who masterminded his success at the Australian Open last year when he beat Nadal to claim his first major title.
A few years ago Wawrinka had a tendency to fold under pressure, but Norman has helped him develop his mental strength and build on his reputation as a powerful, attacking baseliner with huge shot-making ability and natural aggression. The rebound and speed of the grass-courts in south-west London will work against the Swiss stars ability to generate power, but his new-found confidence puts the 30-year-old world No 4 at the top of the pile in the ones to watch.
Tomas Berdych (Sky Bet odds: 40/1)
The Czech is famous for reaching the Wimbledon final in 2010 in his breakthrough season on the ATP circuit, but apart from that sole Grand Slam final appearance the current world No 6 has largely flattered to deceive on the big stage. After losing to Rafa Nadal in the All England Club final and five years in the spotlight in his homeland, the 'Birdman' is suddenly flying high once again and currently enjoying his tennis against the big name players.
His form took a turn for the better when he announced his engagement to Ester Satorova ahead of the Australian Open. After winning titles in Rotterdam and Stockholm in 2014, the tall Czech lost out to Roger Federer in the Doha final but then ended his 17-match losing streak against Nadal in Melbourne to reach the semi-finals where he was convincingly beaten by Andy Murray. He then lost out to Stan Wawrinka as he failed to defend his Rotterdam title to drop to 10-16 in finals over his career.
In April, Berdych powered through to only his fourth Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo, but fell to world No 1 Djokovic in three sets. "This year is going pretty well," said Berdych. "It's going almost the way we set it up." He was recently beaten by hard-hitting Ivo Karlovic at the quarter-final stage in Halle but his 37-11 record for the year demonstrates what a threat he can be.
Grigor Dimitrov (Sky Bet odds: 33/1)
The Bulgarian prodigy reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, just weeks after claiming his first-ever grass court title at Queen's Club last year, but he has since failed to live up to the hype. He earned the tag 'Baby Federer' following his triumph at the All England Club and the US Open as a junior. It's now common knowledge that the athletic and agile 24-year-old is dating one of the richest and most glamorous women in tennis, Maria Sharapova.
And despite the media spotlight he became the first Bulgarian to win a World Tour title in the Open Era in Stockholm and then captured the Acapulco crown and Bucharest title last year. The physical weaknesses that stopped Dimitrov making the most of his huge talent have gone, and there is now a belief that he belongs with the best. The cultured right-hander, who is mentored by eccentric Australian coach Roger Rasheed, demolished Andy Murray in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year before bowing out to Novak Djokovic in the last four. "I played against a future star, he is already a top player with quality shots and a great touch," said the Serb following his 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (9-7) win on Centre Court last year.
He has failed to reach a final this year and was beaten in straight sets by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller at Queen's Club. His country feel they may have found a new hero after Hristo Stoichkov - a former footballer who led the national side to the 1994 World Cup semi-final. And they may just be right because this could be the tournament where the Haskovo-born player steps up and finally finds his form.
Nick Kyrgios (Sky Bet odds: 66/1)
The Canberra star announced himself on the world stage when he beat Rafael Nadal to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer. He is regarded as 'the next big thing' in Australia and has the ability to play hard, accurate shots which is not surprising seeing as he stands at 6ft 4in tall. The 20-year-old was a promising basketball player, but decided to focus on tennis when he was 14. He won his first ITF junior tour title at the age of 15 and by 2013 he had gained the No 1 junior ranking as well as winning the Australian Open boys' junior title.
The proud Australian of Greek and Malaysian heritage saved an amazing nine match points to get past Richard Gasquet at the All England Club before his famous win against 14-time grand slam champion Nadal. "You have to believe that you can win the match from the start and I definitely did," said Kyrgios, who struck 37 aces and hit 70 winners in his 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory on his Centre Court debut. He eventually suffered a four-set defeat to Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals.
Kyrgios made it through to his maiden ATP final in Estoril earlier this year where he was trying to become the first 20-year-old to triumph on the tour since countryman Bernard Tomic in Sydney 2013. His dreams came tumbling down as Richard Gasquet exacted sweet revenge. A few days later he defeated Roger Federer 14-12 in a deciding set tiebreaker on clay in Madrid. "I was just excited to get out to the court. I've been playing well recently on the clay, so I knew I had a good chance to go out there and do well. I stuck to my game and served well and I got the win." The erratic Australian looks capable of breaking into the top 20 this year from No 29 but must find some consistency.
Kevin Anderson (Sky Bet odds: 100/1)
Big-serving Anderson is a late inclusion in the list of dangerous outsiders for the Wimbledon title simply for the fact that he showed outstanding form to reach this year's Queen's Club final - the first South African player to reach the singles final in west Kensington since Wayne Ferreira in 1993.
In his his 10th ATP final, Anderson was brushed aside by two-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray. Johannesburg native Anderson flummoxed his opponents round-by-round with his chief weapon, taking his tournament tally of perfect serves to over a century by the end of the week-long tournament.
The lofty 29-year-old, who has two ATP titles to his name, brackets himself alongside the likes of Milos Raonic, Ivo Karlovic and John Isner in the world's serving stakes and has climbed to a career-high No 14 in the rankings. He will take his 25-14 record for 2015 into Wimbledon with high hopes of continuing where he left off at Queen's.
Who would you add to the list of players to watch at this year's Wimbledon?
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