The draw looked wide open ahead of Roland Garros last month, and it appears to be even more so as we approach Wimbledon.
Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have looked mortal in recent weeks, and Coco Gauff and defending champion Iga Swiatek are coming off surprising losses on the grass. Mirra Andreeva, fresh off her first major title in Paris, has never been past the quarterfinals at the All England Club and lost her lone match on grass this week to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Wimbledon was littered with upsets in the early rounds last year, and it would shock few if we see a repeat of that this year, at least in part. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that eight different WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz players have won the last eight Wimbledons.
With no clear frontrunner, it's a golden opportunity for a lower-ranked player to break through, just as Maja Chwalinska did at Roland Garros.
Here are five dark horses would could do serious damage at the Championships.
Alexandra Eala
After a subpar Clay-Court Swing, Alexandra Eala has found her footing on the grass. She got a much-needed boost at the WTA 125 Birmingham Open, dropping just one set in five matches to claim her second career 125 title, and carried that momentum into Berlin, where she had one of the biggest weeks of her career. She lost in the semifinals to Linda Noskova, but not before knocking off Queen's Club champion Donna Vekic, Rybakina and Elina Svitolina. The win over Rybakina matched the best of her career by ranking, and she came from 4-1 down to pull off the upset.
Eala extended points in that match, forcing Rybakina to make errors, and showed impressive composure late in the second set to close it out. She's looked especially comfortable on the grass this month, and will come into Wimbledon with the confidence that she can beat the best players in the world on this surface.
Emma Navarro
After falling to No. 39 in the PIF WTA Rankings in May, and playing WTA 125s to find her form and work her way back into the Top 20, Emma Navarro re-entered the conversation by winning the WTA 500 Internationaux de Strasbourg, on clay. The switch to grass has produced even more consistent results. After dropping her first grass-court match in 's-Hertogenbosch, the American won four straight matches to reach the final in Nottingham, then upset Swiatek in Bad Homburg. Navarro relied heavily on her serve as the match wore on, produced clutch winners in the third set and kept her errors down.
Navarro had has success at the All England Club before, reaching the quarterfinals a couple years ago with wins over Naomi Osaka, Diana Shnaider and Gauff. She reached the Round of 16 last year, beating former champion Barbora Krejcikova before falling to Andreeva.
Donna Vekic
Vekic absolutely loves playing in London. She proved that two years ago, when she made the Wimbledon semifinals, and she proved it yet again earlier this month at Queen's Club. The 29-year-old lost to Anna Blinkova in qualifying, but took advantage of her lucky-loser opportunity and won five straight matches to pick up the biggest title of her career. She showed veteran poise and grit in the final against Emma Raducanu, who was the clear favorite at her home tournament. (She actually defeated three Brits en route to the championship.)
Vekic looked strong off both wings in London, especially with her forehand, and has now made six grass-court finals in her career. (In addition to the title at Queen's Club, she won Nottingham back in 2017.)
"This is really my favorite time of the year, my favorite surface," Vekic said during the trophy presentation. "...I'll see you all in two weeks at Wimbledon."
Marie Bouzkova
Marie Bouzkova enters Wimbledon playing the best tennis of her life, up to a career-high No. 22 in the PIF WTA Rankings and on the heels of her first grass-court title in Nottingham. In her second championship week of 2026 -- she also won the title in Bogota, on clay, in the spring -- Bouzkova beat Karolina Pliskova in the semis before outlasting Navarro in a three-set final that lasted just under three hours.
Bouzkova has made it a point to take control earlier in points, and it's proved to be successful on the grass.
"Just a pure fight," Bouzkova said after beating Navarro. "I just tried to stay aggressive as much as possible and be the first one to dictate the point."
Bouzkova's best result at a major came at Wimbledon in 2022, when she reached the quarterfinals.
Tatjana Maria
No one in the draw will want to meet 38-year-old Tatjana Maria in the first round -- or any round, for that matter. Though she's fallen to No. 112 in the PIF WTA Rankings, the German veteran's game is tailor made for grass, with a low slice and an ability to come to the net effectively. One of the craftiest players on the WTA Tour, Maria won the biggest title of her career on grass last year, at Queen's Club. The title was made even more impressive by who she had to go through to get the trophy, upsetting Top 20 players Karolina Muchova, Rybakina, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova in succession.
She's had another strong Grass-Court Swing this year, going 9-3 through four tournaments. (She's currently into the semifinals in Eastbourne.)
The mother of two has fond memories of London and the grass, and she's a big-match player, with a 4-0 record in WTA finals. She also famously made the semifinals at the All England Club in 2022.
Honorable Mention
Serena Williams
OK, so this is technically the opposite of under the radar. Serena Williams is on everyone's radar as she makes her highly-anticipated return to singles competition.
But very few people are expecting a deep run from the 23-time major champion after nearly four years on the sidelines. That said, no one will feel comfortable across the net from Williams, who has won seven singles titles here. And if she wins a match or two and gains some momentum ... look out.