Wimbledon 2019: The top players to watch out for this year

Wimbledon - the most famous tennis tournament in the world - begins on Monday 1 July.

The sport's best players have headed to the All England Club in London all with the dream to win the Grand Slam title.

But who are the favourites to lift the men's and women's trophies?

Here Newsround runs through the top players to watch out for over the next two weeks of action.

Will Novak Djokovic retain his crown?

Novak Djokovic is looking to retain his title

Serbia's defending champion Novak Djokovic is considered the player to beat in the men's singles.

He starts the defence of his title when he opens up play on Centre Court against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at 1pm on Monday.

Djokovic's biggest threats will come from two other tennis legends - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of the young stars hoping to win Wimbledon 2019

Between them, the trio have won 53 of the past 64 Grand Slam tournaments - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open - stretching back to Federer's first Wimbledon triumph in 2003.

Younger stars including Austrian Dominic Thiem, Germany's Alexander Zverev and Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas are expected to lead the charge aiming to topple the big three.

Can Serena Williams win her 24th Grand Slam title?

Japan's Naomi Osaka will be hoping to add a Wimbledon title to her US Open and Australian Open victories

The women's game has been highly unpredictable in recent years with nine different winners at the past 10 major tournaments.

Japan's Naomi Osaka is the only player to have won two Grand Slam titles since the start of 2017, but the US Open and Australian Open champion has struggled to cope recently with being the one to beat.

Australian Ashleigh Barty quit tennis five years ago to play professional cricket but later changed her mind.

Now, she goes into Wimbledon after winning her first major at the French Open and becoming the new world number one.

American Serena Williams is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all time

Seven-time champion Serena Williams is aiming to win her first major title since giving birth to her daughter in September 2017.

One more triumph would see the American great, who has struggled with a knee injury, equal the all-time tennis record of 24 Slam singles titles.

Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, former two-time winner Petra Kvitova, and reigning champion Angelique Kerber are also expected to be strong contenders.

Do any of the British players have a shot?

British women's number one Johanna Konta

Johanna Konta is considered the Briton with the best shot of going far in the singles.

This year's 19th seed reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2017 and comes into the tournament on the back of a shock run to the last four of the French Open.

Kyle Edmund, the men's British number one, is the 30th seed for the tournament but has struggled for form and fitness in recent months.

British men's number one Kyle Edmund

He had only won two matches from the end of March and retired from his French Open second-round match with a knee injury.

Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans, ranked 49th and 65th, also qualified for the main draw, while Jay Clarke, James Ward and teenager Paul Jubb have been given special entry to play.

Heather Watson, Harriet Dart and Katie Swan have also been given wildcards for the women's singles.

Will Andy Murray be playing at Wimbledon?

Britain's two-time singles champion Andy Murray will return to Wimbledon in the doubles event after missing last year's Championships with a career-threatening hip injury.

The Scot said in January he thought he might have to retire after this year's tournament at the All England Club.

But the 32-year-old is back playing pain-free after having a hip operation five months ago.

The former world number one hopes to play in the men's and mixed doubles.