Six Who Have a Chance to Figure Prominently in London

A look at some of the players to keep a close eye on when Wimbledon starts Monday:

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Coming off back-to-back semifinals in the Australian and French Opens, Bouchard, 20, has proved to be a fearless competitor. Her ability to take the ball early and control court positioning is tailor-made for success on grass. Coached by Nick Saviano - who was instrumental in the development of Sloane Stephens - Bouchard, a Canadian, has the ability to produce her best under pressure. She came close to toppling Maria Sharapova in a stirring three-set semifinal in Paris this month, but such close losses do not satisfy Bouchard, who is ranked 13th. She has the desire and the ambition to win Grand Slam titles.

MADISON KEYS: The unseeded Keys, 19, is a dangerous floater in the draw. She is rapidly gaining confidence on grass with superb results at Eastbourne, where she reached her first WTA final. Keys, ranked 47th, generates astonishing pace with her ground strokes, and she has improved her movement and shot selection. She is still learning how to handle the big moments in a match, though. In the first round at Roland Garros, she stormed back to win the second set against 10th-seeded Sara Errani, but the veteran clay-court specialist used her experience to run away with the third set. But Keys, an American, is certainly on the verge of a breakthrough, and her booming first serve and first-strike capabilities are well-suited to grass.

PETRA KVITOVA: The 2011 Wimbledon champion, Kvitova, 24, is one of the few players capable of matching the power games of Serena Williams and Sharapova. Although plagued by inconsistency since her breakthrough victory three years ago, Kvitova, a Czech, uses her powerful serve and ground game to seize control of nearly every point. The low, quick bounce on grass is ideal for her flat ball strike, and when she returns serve consistently, she puts enormous pressure on her opponent. Kvitova, ranked sixth, withdrew from her semifinal match at Eastbourne last week because of a hamstring injury, but she is expected to play  at Wimbledon.

ERNESTS GULBIS: After a surprising quarterfinal finish at Roland Garros at age 19 in 2008, Gulbis was hailed as a can't-miss prospect, but his penchant for nightclubs and casinos drew more publicity than his game. That changed when he began working with the Austrian coach Gunther Bresnik, who has shaped Gulbis, now 25, into a physically fit and mentally tenacious competitor. His five-set victory over Roger Federer at Roland Garros, in which Gulbis bludgeoned Federer's backhand with huge serves and powerful ground stokes, was not a fluke. Nor was the straight-set thrashing of Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Gulbis, a Latvian, is in the top 10 for the first time, and his early excess has led to the wisdom of knowing he can join the game's elite, but only if he continues to work hard.

MARIN CILIC: A 6-foot-6 Croatian, Cilic is a superb grass-court player. He won the Queen's Club event in 2012 and lost in last year's final to Andy Murray in three sets. Under the tutelage of his countryman Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion, Cilic is playing more aggressively, going for more on his first serve and trying to play more offensively with his ground game. At Roland Garros last month, he gave Novak Djokovic a scare in the fourth set of their third-round match, coming back from a 4-1 deficit to nearly force a fifth set. After the humiliation of serving a four-month doping suspension last year, Cilic seems determined to climb back into the top echelons of the men's game.

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER: Kohlschreiber, 30, has a solid all-court, all-surface game and plays every point with consistency, commitment and concentration. He reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon two years ago, and he is a pleasure to watch because of his tactical acumen and his high tennis IQ. Although not a threat to win the tournament, Kohlschreiber, a German ranked 27th, is an underappreciated player who is capable of a big upset. Although his one-handed backhand is not as flashy as Richard Gasquet's or Stan Wawrinka's, Kohlschreiber hits his with power, variety and uncanny accuracy.

© 2014 New York Times News Service