A cinematic storyline
Sometimes on the Centre Court grass, stories have the kind of blissful, emotional and uplifting endings that you imagine only happen in the movies. This summer, there are three competing comeback storylines in the ladies' singles draw, any one of which could bring a cinematic, joyful feel to The Championships.
Should Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova or Victoria Azarenka win the Venus Rosewater Dish, it would be an extraordinary tale as the trio have all - though each in their own way - come through adversity just to be here at this garden party, among the ivy and the petunias.
While Williams "almost died" after giving birth to her daughter Olympia and spent the first six weeks of motherhood in bed, Azarenka has only recently been allowed to play a full schedule on the Tour, after the lifting of travel restrictions that had been imposed by a judge during a child custody dispute over her son Leo. Kvitova is working her way back from a knife attack by an intruder in her home that left her with career-threatening injuries to her left playing hand. With each passing month, her hand feels better, but it's not yet back to where it was before the trauma a year and a half ago.
There are times, and this feels like it could be one of them, when tennis does comebacks better than other sports.
To a large degree, that's because, when you're competing in an individual sport, everything is amplified, with great emotional lows and highs. Playing on Centre Court, or even on the smallest outside court at the All England Club, reveals a player's character like nothing else. Expect the British and global tennis public to be heavily invested in Williams, Kvitova and Azarenka's comebacks this coming Fortnight, as the women seek a return to the true elite: winning another Grand Slam title.
Mixed in with those back stories is the history. Should Williams land an eighth Wimbledon title, the 36-year-old would take her overall collection of Grand Slams to 24, which would give her parity with Margaret Court's all-time record (with 23, Williams already has more slams than any other woman, or indeed man, of the modern, Open era).
While if Kvitova were to win, to add to her Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014, you can be sure it would be the most emotional of her victories. After two previous appearances in the semi-finals, Azarenka describes Wimbledon as "a special event in my heart"; should she score a first title, to go with her other two Grand Slam titles from the Australian Open, her affection for The Championships would only grow.
When the All England Club announced on Wednesday that Williams, ranked 183 in the world, was among the 32 seeds, it wasn't just good news for her; it should also have pleased the other women with protected positions in the draw. Who, out of the contenders for the title, such as Kvitova, would have wanted to be paired with an unseeded Williams in the first round? There were indications at Roland-Garros - where she reached the fourth round, before withdrawing with a pectoral injury before playing Maria Sharapova - that Williams could soon once again be a force in this sport. A note of caution, though: this is only the fourth tournament of the No. 25 seed's return, after appearances in Indian Wells, Miami and Paris.
Never happier than when she's on an English lawn, Kvitova is undefeated on grass this summer. The champion at the Edgbaston Priory Club, she then won a round in Eastbourne before the precautionary move of withdrawing with a hamstring injury.
While Kvitova played at last summer's Championships, when she was beaten in the second round by American Madison Brengle, that appearance came too early in her comeback story for her to seriously contend for the title. This summer, the No. 8 seed is many people's pick to attend the Champions' Dinner.
Like Kvitova, Azarenka also played at Wimbledon last summer - the new mother made the fourth round where she lost to Simona Halep. And like Kvitova, she should still be considered to be on her comeback, since the custody battle prevented her from having the regular competition that every player needs.
Still readjusting to life on the Tour again, she has often been playing more accomplished tennis in practice than in matches. But where better to change that than on the grass of the All England Club?
