On Monday, the third grand slam of the year begins! Where has the time gone? It seems only yesterday that it was the beginning of the year, and we were all excited about the Australian Open.

Starting Monday, the strawberries and cream will be in abundance and the Pimms flowing, as Wimbledon 2014 begins at the All England Club. The traditional white outfit, the royal box, the legend of Court 18 – it will all be on display from this Monday and it is sure to be a thrilling two weeks with plenty of exhilarating tennis action.

Plenty of these will be eaten this Wimbledon fortnight

Who will be the winners in two weeks when the tournament is all said and done. Let's take a look at the main contenders for the title starting with the men's. The bookies favourite for the tournament is world number two Novak Djokovic. Djokovic has shown his prowess on the grass of Wimbledon in the past, winning the tournament in 2011 as well as reaching the final last year. He has had wrist issues as of late, having to pull out of the Boodles exhibition event as a precaution before Wimbledon. Andy Murray is the defending champion after beating Djokovic in last year's final. Although he lost unexpectedly to Radek Stepanek at Queens Club, he has a big chance of adding to his grand slam total at Wimbledon. If he plays as well as he is known to play, he can go all the way once again.

Murray winning Wimbledon last year

You cannot count out either seven time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer or twice winner Rafael Nadal as potential winners. People are perhaps reading too much into Nadal losing to Dustin Brown in Halle just after Roland Garros. Federer has started his grass season in good form, winning his seventh Halle title by beating Alejandro Falla of Colombia. It is very dangerous to write off either player as both are very dangerous on the grass when they are at their best. Nadal will be hoping to go further than last year when he surprisingly slumped out in the first round to Steve Darcis.

Roger Federer won his seventh Halle title

This was a sub-par Nadal though and he will come into the tournament this year much more confident than last year, having trained more on the grass. If you are preparing to write off either Nadal or Federer then you are either brave or very very foolish.

Nadal suffers a shock loss to Steve Darcis

Both players still have what it takes to win Wimbledon and add to their grand slams. With Nadal just three behind Federer now after winning Roland Garros, he is catching up to the Swiss star and this Wimbledon title will be a big help if he is to pass Federer anytime in the near future.

Players with an outside chance of winning the tournament include newly crowned Queens champion Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov has shown over the past year that he isn't just in draws to make the numbers up and he has a relatively good chance of progressing deep into this draw.

Dimitrov recently won the AEGON Championship

He definitely has the game to trouble the big guns but consistency has been a problem for him in the past. He likes grass courts and he comes into Wimbledon a much better player than he was even a year ago, so he will be expected to better his previous best second round showing at Wimbledon. Having recently turned 23, you'd have to think he has time on his side to develop his game and be successful and show that he isn't style over substance and challenge for grand slams in the future.

Grigor Dimitrov

Tomas Berdych has shown his grass legs in the past reaching the final in 2010 and having reached the quarterfinal last year, he has a fair chance of having a good tournament. Two time semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also has shown that he can play on the grass so he is one to look out for this fortnight.

Berdych reached the final in 2010

Will there be another shock winner? Look at the Australian Open as an example. Nobody expected Stan Wawrinka to win the tournament, not even Stan Wawrinka himself. I can't see it happening this year at Wimbledon though, and would be flabbergasted if anybody other than those highlighted are the one lifting the trophy on the last Sunday of the tournament.

Moving onto the main contenders for the women's title, Serena Williams is the heavy favourite for the championship having lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish on five occasions. If she shows that blistering form that she is known for, it would be hard to see anybody standing in the way of Williams and her sixth Wimbledon title. She will be hoping to improve on last year's performance where she fell to eventual finalist Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round. Although a player like Serena doesn't necessarily need match preparation, it is of interest that she hasn't featured in any of the grass warm up tournaments before Wimbledon.

Maria Sharapova has to be on the list of potential winners also as she looks for her second Wimbledon title. Her first was back in 2004 when 17 year old Sharapova defeated Serena Williams. Like Williams, Wimbledon wasn't a good memory for Sharapova last year as she was dumped out in the second round by Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito. Not showing the spark that has become a feature of her game, Sharapova was well and truly beaten. Coming into Wimbledon this year having won Roland Garros, she will be more confident that she can have a decent tournament and certainly improve on last year's tournament to forget. It won't be on her highlight reel that is for sure.

Sharapova in 2004

Others with the potential to go far into the tournament include Eugenie Bouchard, who reached her first grand slam semi-final at Roland Garros last month can't be ruled out completely and even though it is unlikely that she will win her first pro tour grand slam here at Wimbledon, she has shown she can play on the grass winning the girls juniors title in 2012. Simona Halep also has to be considered as someone who could go deep into the tournament but she will have to improve dramatically on the grass. She had to retire in her match at Hertogenbosch earlier in the week with a shoulder injury. She may have been a little worse for wear as of late but if she is fully fit by Monday she will be one to look for sure.

Winning the Wimbledon 2012 Juniors title

Like the men's draw I would be very surprised if anybody out of the ordinary won the title and expect the winner to be either Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova when the tournament is completed. The Venus Rosewater dish will be returning to one of these two ladies if they both play as well as they are capable of playing.

All of the action starts on Monday with defending champion Andy Murray opening proceedings on centre court versus talented Belgian David Goffin.

It is set to be a blockbuster two weeks of grass court tennis action and here at VAVEL Tennis we will be covering the whole thing in it's entirety, bringing you all the biggest news from the tournament as and when it happens. We are the place to be for all your tennis needs.

Stay tuned for all of the VAVEL writers predictions as we reveal who we are tipping to win the Wimbledon title.

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