Wimbledon 2019: Experts' Verdicts on Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams' Chances

As the 2019 edition of Wimbledon gets underway on Monday so does the quest to find a male winner that is not Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.

The Big Three of tennis have shared the last 10 men's Grand Slam titles and have dominated proceedings in the west London suburb for 16 years. With the exception of Andy Murray's victories in 2013 and 2016 no other male player outside the trio has won on the courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club since Lleyton Hewitt triumphed in 2002.

Of the trio, Diokovic is the favorite to defend his title, followed by Federer and Nadal. The latter has not won the world's oldest Grand Slam tournament since 2009 and his path to the final was made harder by a draw which could pit him against either Federer or Djokovic in the semifinals.

Unlike every other ATP-sanctioned tournament, Wimbledon has its own special seeding formula, which doesn't always follow the ATP rankings closely.

That means Nadal is ranked as the number three seed below Federer, even though he's one spot above the Swiss in the world rankings.

Among the women, meanwhile, the tournament is wide open. Australia's Ashleigh Barty arrives in London as the world number one after winning the French Open in May, while defending champion Angelique Kerber is the second favorite.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, is the number 11 seed as she looks for a record eighth Wimbledon crown.

Here's what some experts have had to say before the tournament.

Dan Wolken—USA Today

The Big Three have dominated tennis for almost two decades and Wolken believes it's time for a new winner at Wimbledon.

"For the sake of tennis, there could be no better outcome to this Wimbledon than one of the sport's promising, charismatic stars shaking up the old order. Finally, it's time."

Tom Hamilton—ESPN

Novak Djokovic is the reigning men's champion and Hamilton claims he will successfully defend his title.

"The men's championship is Djokovic's to lose. He flew under the radar to take the title last year, but he will be the man to beat in SW19 in 2019. He will be in the mix among the usual suspects and the new batch coming through, but Djokovic should reign supreme again."

Jacob Steinberg—The Guardian

Rafael Nadal has not won at Wimbledon in nine years and Steinberg suggests the Spaniard is unlikely to break his drought.

"The stakes are high and although Nadal has not triumphed at Wimbledon since 2010, he was unfortunate to lose to Djokovic in the semis last year. He has a tough draw, though, and losing to Marin Cilic at Hurlingham was not an encouraging sign for the world No 2."

Russell Fuller—BBC Sport

Like Steinberg, Fuller also suggests Nadal's road to a first Wimbledon title in nine years looks very tricky.

"With defending champion [Novak] Djokovic in the other half, [Rafel] Nadal looks to have the rockiest route to negotiate.

"A second-round match with [Nick] Kyrgios, who called him 'super salty' in a recent podcast, could be followed by meetings before the quarter-finals with Denis Shapovalov and the 2017 runner-up [Martin] Cilic."

Chris Evert—18-time Grand Slam winner

Serena Williams might be only the number 11 seed but Evert backs her to clinch a record eighth Wimbledon crown.

"She's the best and most experienced grass-court player," she said.

"I think she's worked hard getting ready for grass season."

Daniel Rapaport—Sports Illustrated

Rapaport believes it's hard to gauge Serena Williams' chances at Wimbledon.

"Serena Williams, for one, but she could also just as well win the whole tournament," he said when asked which high seed could be eliminated early.

"It is virtually impossible to predict how she will fare."