Defending champion Angelique Kerber faces a tough task from a field packed with talent as she attempts to win the Aegon Classic in Birmingham for a second consecutive year. Kerber must also find some rhythm to have any chance of repeating last year’s success, since her recent results have been very patchy. The 2016 Australian Open champion won the Premier title in Stuttgart but then lost three first-round matches in a row in Madrid, Rome, and Paris.

Her strongest challengers are likely to be fellow seeds Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, and 2015 finalist Karolina Pliskova, along with Belinda Bencic and Madison Keys if they can find form. Pliskova may prove to the biggest threat because she has already achieved success on grass this year by winning the Aegon Open in Nottingham on Sunday. She defeated Johanna Konta, Carla Suarez Navarro, and Kristina Mladenovic en route to the Birmingham final last year, and her big-serving game is very well-suited to grass. However, Pliskova faces a difficult draw in Birmingham with crafty fellow Czech Barbora Strycova up first, Heather Watson or Camila Giorgi in the last 16, a potential quarterfinal against Bencic, and then a possible semifinal against Radwanska.

Radwanska also has a tricky opener to negotiate against Coco Vandeweghe, who is exactly the type of player who troubles her:  a big hitter. To make matters worse for Radwanska, the American has just won the Ricoh Open in Hertgenbosch, so she will be brimming with confidence going into the match. If the Pole can make it through, she should reach the semifinal, since she will face a qualifier or lucky loser in round two and then probably either Konta or Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. While Konta in particular would likely be a stern test, Radwanska is such a good grass-court player that she should have enough to win. If she played a semifinal against either Pliskova or Bencic, who are both grass-court specialists, anything could happen.

Petra Kvitova faces a tough first-round match against countrywoman Lucie Safarova, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2014 and showed signs of a return to form after a long injury lay-off when she won the Prague Open and then reached the third round of the French Open. Kvitova has had a poor 2016 by her standards, as her 13-12 win-loss record shows, but she will be delighted to be back on her favorite surface in Birmingham. If she ousts Safarova, she should reach the last eight and play Madison Keys, with a semifinal against Kerber the likely prize for the winner.

After missing virtually the entire clay-court season with a back injury, Belinda Bencic returned to her favourite surface in Hertgenbosch last week and fought her way through three matches that all went to three sets during her run to the semifinals. If she is to win a challenging first-round match against Irina-Camelia Begu and go on to contest the latter stages in Birmingham, she will need to find more fluency, but she is definitely capable of doing it.

Madison Keys is another player with a game well-suited to grass and the talent to go far in Birmingham. She can be unpredictable at times, but her consistency has improved in 2016 (her win-loss record is 17-7) and she has produced some excellent grass-court results in her career. Keys won Eastbourne in 2014 and reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2015, so she is definitely one to watch out for.

Elsewhere in the draw, Wozniacki is looking for a few wins to find some rhythm before Wimbledon and could go far if she finds form. Konta will be looking to put her recent struggles behind her and may prove a tricky opponent for anyone. Heather Watson has had a decent season so far and could take it to the next level by doing well in Birmingham. Daria Gavrilova upset Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep earlier in the year and might be a threat. Carla Suarez Navarro, Elina Svitolina, and Andrea Petkovic are traditionally uncomfortable on grass but could all win a few matches and shake up the draw.

It is a pity that third seed Simona Halep had to withdraw from this year’s Aegon Classic, but the tournament still boasts a highly competitive field capable of very entertaining tennis, and first-round matches such as Radwanska v Vandeweghe, Bencic v Begu, Pliskova v Strycova, Kvitova v Safarova, and Suarez Navarro v Svitolina should ensure the tournament starts very strongly.