Elena Rybakina regains Wimbledon title as Emma Navarro stars – our week 2 predictions
The Wimbledon women’s singles draw could not have been any crazier in 2024.
Big upsets and huge talking points have dominated the opening days of the Championships, with some hugely surprising faces going deep at the tournament.
Most people’s predictions have already been blown out of the window, but ahead of quarter-final action, we’re making some predictions for the remaining few days.
Rybakina lifts the Venus Rosewater Dish
Despite being one of the few former champions in the draw, fourth seed Elena Rybakina was not in the conversation of title contenders for some.
However, with Aryna Sabalenka withdrawing pre-tournament, and Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff knocked out early, the 2022 winner is the highest-ranked player left.
With the carnage in the women’s draw, she is not unsusceptible to an upset.
There is no one left she cannot beat, though, and we’re backing the Kazakh to claim her second Wimbledon title at the end of the week.
Navarro reaches final
There have been few more impressive than Emma Navarro this fortnight, with the American playing with huge confidence at the All England Club.
After breezing past former world No 1 Naomi Osaka in round two, the 19th seed battled back to fend off Diana Shnaider in three sets before shocking second seed Gauff on Sunday night.
For many, Gauff was the favourite to take the title, and her exit has blown the bottom half of the draw wide open.
Arguably it is her conqueror that looks primed to take advantage, playing the best tennis of anyone left in that bottom half.
Rankings wise, she is the underdog against seventh seed Jasmine Paolini in the last eight, but she was also the underdog versus Gauff.
Expect her to beat Paolini, and then either Lulu Sun or Donna Vekic to reach the final.
Sun’s dream run to continue
Sun has been one of the stories of Wimbledon, with the New Zealander coming through qualifying to reach the last eight at the All England Club.
The 23-year-old was match point down in her round two qualifying match in Roehampton but has thrived ever since then, stunning eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in round one before impressing on her Centre Court debut versus Emma Raducanu.
It will not be an easy contest next against Vekic, who has a strong pedigree on grass courts – and who was well overdue a deep Wimbledon run.
But she has plenty of momentum behind her, and we fancy her chances of reaching the last four.
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