Wimbledon 2017: Women's draw almost too close to call but could end in Petra Kvitova fairytale

Nick Bollettieri runs his eye over the contenders for the Venus Rosewater Dish

Could Petra Kvitova round off a remarkable comeback by winning at Wimbledon? (Getty)

Now this is getting crazy. Yesterday I told you I found it hard to pick a winner of the men’s title at this Wimbledon. Today I’m at even more of a loss to decide who might be holding up the Venus Rosewater Dish in 13 days’ time.

Holy cow, what are things coming to? The Good Lord knows everything, but I reckon even he would be scratching his head if he had to come up with the name of the 2017 women’s champion.

It will be a strange Wimbledon without Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova. To a boy with an Italian heritage like mine, it will feel like spaghetti minus the sauce or a dessert without ice cream.

There are plenty of players who could win the title, but when I consider each of them I see weaknesses just as much as strengths. Take Angelique Kerber, the world No 1 and last year’s runner-up. Her confidence seems to dip in and out and in her present state I’m not sure she can keep everything together over seven matches.

Kerber’s movement is excellent and I like the way she plays further up the court these days, but I always feel that she doesn’t make the best use of her leftie serve. I also think her second serve is a weakness. It’s too easy to attack.

Simona Halep is the world No 2. Her footwork, her balance and her technique could not be bettered and she has a great coach in Darren Cahill, but I think the fact she’s not a big girl counts against her. On grass in particular it seems to me that a good big’un will nearly always beat a good little’un.

Karolina Pliskova, who made the final of the US Open last summer, will take a lot of beating. With her big serve she has a great game for grass, as she showed when she won the title in Eastbourne last week.

She’s fearless and is playing with a lot of confidence this year. I like the fact that she’s not afraid to mix it up with drop shots, especially on the backhand side. She’s a big ball-striker, though her game isn’t all about power.

However, there are areas where I think she’s vulnerable. On her own serve in particular she’s always trying to manage the point so that she can get on to her forehand. Opponents need to disrupt her rhythm and get her backhand into play more often.

Elina Svitolina is the No 4 seed and has had a great year. She loves pace on the ball and loves to dictate the rallies, but I’m not so sure she can handle it when opponents mix it up. If she can’t hit through you she will begin to drift back. This will open her up to the drop shot or short slices.

I don’t know if Johanna Konta is ready to win Wimbledon yet, but you Brits have a player of whom you can be very proud. You won’t find some of her shots in any coaching manuals, but, boy, there’s no way anyone should try to change them.

She has a particularly unorthodox forehand, but it’s a big shot and very effective. Her service motion is also very odd with that exaggerated bouncing of the ball and ball toss, but she uses her legs to push up well. That serve is a powerful weapon. She also has a very effective backhand that takes the ball nice and early and moves well.

World No 1 Kerber struggles for consistency (Getty)

Has Venus Williams still got it in her to win? You wouldn’t rule her out because grass suits her perfectly, but I think she would need to come into the net more than she has ever done before if she is to go deep into the tournament. She needs to be hitting more of those great volleys of hers.

Holy mackerel, I seem to have come up with reasons why everybody can’t win, so I’ll finish on a positive note. If I had to put my neck on the line and come up with the name of a winner I would have to say the favourite is Petra Kvitova. What a story it would be if she won Wimbledon for a third time given the terrible knife attack on her last December.

It does seem early to be talking about her as a potential champion given that she’s only played two tournaments since starting her comeback, but she has a great game for grass.

She has a big serve and her ground strokes are fantastic on both flanks, particularly when she’s hitting deep and cross-court. She has a strong foundation and great balance. She’s in complete control of her body when she’s hitting those big groundies. She moves well for such a big girl, though I feel she can be vulnerable when you hit the ball behind her.

Perhaps most crucially of all, she’s very tough mentally - which I suppose goes without saying given all she’s gone through in the last seven months.

Monday’s match of the day

Cilic faces a difficult opening round tie (Getty)

There are some cracking matches in store for the first day and I particularly like the look of Marin Cilic against Philipp Kohlschreiber. Cilic, the world No 6, will be the favourite, but Kohlschreiber has won six of their nine meetings.

Kohlschreiber has had his best results on clay, but the world No 57 has a grass-court title to his name, got to the quarter-finals here in 2012 and has made the third round on three other occasions. He’s 33 now and is only 5ft 10in tall, but he has very consistent ground strokes on both sides.

Cilic has a great game for grass with his big serve and bold forehands. He reached the final at Queen’s last weekend, but I thought he lost his composure in the deciding set against Feliciano Lopez. On balance I would expect Cilic to win, but it could be close.

And finally

I can’t let this day pass without a word about Russ Adams, one of the great tennis photographers, who died last week. He was a fine man who loved his work. His passing is a great loss to the sport.

Nick Bollettieri, 85, has coached ten world No 1s over his career and founded what is now the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida in 1980. This is the 14th year in a row that he is writing a Wimbledon column for The Independent.