The No.1 contenders
The first half of 2019 has seen three different players hold the No.1 position – Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka and now Barty. At Wimbledon, there are five players in contention of finishing the tournament at the top.
Barty, who is the second Australian No.1 in the history of the WTA Tour, currently has a 118-point lead over second place Osaka. Due to the small margin, Barty’s No.1 future relies on her opponents, unless she wins the title outright or reaches one round further than all of her challengers.
Osaka has to reach the third round to even have a chance of returning back to the top. She has reached the last 32 in the past two editions but is yet to go any further than that in her career.
Karolina Pliskova has an even tougher task. The Czech needs to progress to the semi-finals in what would be her best ever performance at Wimbledon. Recently winning the Eastbourne International, Wimbledon is the only grand slam where Plsikova has failed to reach the quarter-finals.
Finally, Kiki Bertens and Petra Kvitova must reach the final and hope for her rivals to exit the tournament early.
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