Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam events in tennis. In contrast to Roland Garros, Wimbledon is played on a grassy court, which means that tennis balls are quick, fast-spinning and low bouncing on this surface. Powerful hitters and baseliners hold a distinct advantage playing at Wimbledon.

It is fairly obvious that the favorite to win this Grand Slam event is the world number three Venus Williams. She won in 2005, 2007 and 2008. During her first match at this year’s Wimbledon, she was in top form in dispatching Stefanie Voegele. She won in straight sets, 6-3 , 6-2. Williams was patient with her shots and chose her spots. Venus owns this event; her baseline game is perfectly suited to the grass surface at Wimbledon. Her long wing span allows her to play baseline and hit powerful shots. Venus is also chasing tennis history, if she wins this year she ties Billy Jean King with six singles titles.

Venus’ younger sister Serena also has a rackets chance to win this year. She battled her older sister in the Wimbledon finals last year, so don’t be surprised to see an all-Williams Wimbledon finals again. Serena has a better serve and tennis technique than Venus but her aggressive offensive attacks have led to many unforced errors. Her opponents should play her patiently and take advantage of those mistakes. Serena had an easy time advancing to the second round by beating Neuza Silva, 6-1, 7-5.

The world ranked number one Dinara Safina is also a huge favorite to win this year. She is coming off a crushing loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Roland Garros finals and many experts think she is due. Her game also best suits Wimbledon because Dinara is an aggressive baseliner. But her mental toughness is a major question mark. She easily losses her composure when everything’s not going her way, although she did show glimpses of improving her toughness as evidenced by her comeback against Maria Sharapova at Roland Garros.

Svetlana Kuznetsova is a two time Grand Slam event winner and already holds a mental edge over Safina. She is long and athletic. It won’t be surprising to see her raise the Wimbledon plate..err..trophy. Kuznetsova is also better on grass than clay, which says a lot because she just won at Roland Garros.

Of course there are other fan favorites like Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Amelie Mauresmo. Maria Sharapova looked good (literally and figuratively) during her first match at Wimbledon. She seems to have fully recovered from shoulder surgery.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic needed three sets to advance in the second round, as did Amelie Mauresmo.

Wimbledon is wide open on the women’s side because anyone can surprisingly score an upset. Don’t count anyone out but the Williams sisters have history on their sides.