Venus Williams heads to Wimbledon to begin the defence of her grass court title, but this year faces stiff competition from a number of top women players.

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In the 12 months since Venus was crowned champion at Wimbledon for the fifth time, the American has endured a dispiriting run of results that could severely threaten her Wimbledon campaign this year.

Winning only two minor WTA events this year represents a poor season  for the former world number one, but it is the first week exits from the Australian and French Opens against the unheralded Carla Suarez Navarro and Agnes Szavay that really worried Venus.

Venus first won Wimbledon in 2000, and since then the 29-year-old has reached six of the following eight finals, with four more victories to her credit.

The strongest threat to Venus's dominance is likely to come from sister Serena. As ever with her sister Serena.

It is now six years since Serena last won the Wimbledon title but on her day the world number two still has the beating of any of her peers, including Venus.

World number one Dinara Safina, will travel to London being rocked after fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova thrashed her in the French Open final.

Safina has risen to the top of the womens' rankings without ever securing a Grand Slam victory.

If Safina can't dethrone Venus, the biggest threat could come from elsewhere in eastern Europe.

Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion, is working her way back up the rankings after returning to tennis in May following 10 months on the sidelines with a persistent shoulder injury.

Another challenger should be Kuznetsova, whose morale is sky-high after her Roland Garros triumph, while world number four Elena Dementieva, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year.

There is no shortage of motivation for Serbian duo Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, who both failed to make it past the fourth round last year despite being seeded one and two respectively, and have both struggled in tournaments since.

Attention will also be focued on 16-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito, whose high-pitch on-court screeching has led the International Tennis Federation to consider making "noise hindrance" part of its code of conduct.

Women's Wimbledon latest odds - from Ladbrokes

Serena Williams - 5/2

Venus Williams - 3/1

Maria Sharapova - 7/1

Dinara Safina - 9/1

Victoria Azarenka - 12/1

Svetlana Kuznetsova -14/1

Ana Ivanovic - 16/1

Jelena Jankovic - 25/1