This year's Wimbledon is going to be one of the most bizarre championships we've seen at a major in a long time. Of the 128 players, there are no one or two individuals whom you can look at and say they are the favorite or favorites going into the tournament.

	Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during Wimbledon. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

The defending champion, Goran Ivanisevic, is out with a shoulder injury. The defending runnerup, Patrick Rafter, who was one of the greatest grass-courters last year, is retired. Pete Sampras has been in a funk for more than a year. Andre Agassi is in his longest Grand Slam drought since his 1996-98 dry spell. Of all the other players who could be considered contenders, they've never had success at Wimbledon with the exception of Tim Henman, who has been to the semifinals a couple of times.

There really are no true favorites, people who have shown they can do well here, but here are some contenders.

CONTENDERS

Tim Henman

Mal's Analysis

Earlier this year, at the Aussie Open, Henman had a great opportunity to reach his first Slam final. Basically, he got tight and played very poorly in a match he was favored in. Looking at the draw this year, there's another great opportunity to do well in what traditionally has been his favorite Grand Slam tournament. He'll play a qualifier no matter what in his first two rounds, and really his first test might possibly be against Wayne Ferreira in the third round, who is unseeded. With Henman reaching the final last week at Queen's Club and unquestionably the fan favorite, there's going to be a lot of expectations from everyone, including himself, for him to win Wimbledon.

Lleyton Hewitt

Mal's Analysis

For the third consecutive major, he's the top seed. He made only a fourth-round appearance here last year, but surprisingly he does very well on grass courts. He has won the Queen's Club tourney, which is traditionally a big warm-up tournament for a lot of players, three consecutive years. What you usually see with the big grass-court players are serve and volley, but he's just the opposite. Hewitt doesn't have a huge serve, but he relies on his return of serve more than anything and his ability to counter-punch. He's going to have a big test in his first-round match with Jonas Bjorkman, a player whose game is suited to grass.

Roger Federer

Mal's Analysis

Federer is coming off a clay-court season that saw him win Hamburg but lose in the first round at Roland Garros. He's eager to get back on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where he reached the quarterfinals last year. That equaled his best Grand Slam finish of his career. It's also where he maybe had the biggest win of his career against the great Pete Sampras. He's that player who really has every essential element to succeed on any surface.

Andre Agassi

Mal's Analysis

Andre hasn't won a major since the Australian Open in 2001. It's getting to be that time where if he's ever going to win another one, it's got to be now -- this year -- because he's not getting any better. But amazingly, he has been able to sustain his game into his 30s, which Pete Sampras hasn't been able to do. Agassi might not have it in him to compete at a Grand Slam for two straight weeks in seven matches against all of these young players who are a lot more hungry than he is -- who are wanting to prove themselves. So for Agassi, who is a past champion at Wimbledon, it's now or never.

Marat Safin

Mal's Analysis

With the exception of the two Grand Slam winners this year, Tomas Johansson and Albert Costa, Safin has had the best results at a major -- a final and a semifinal appearance. What he has going for him are his huge serve and return of serve. That's what took him to the quarterfinals here last year. But in the first round, he's playing Cedric Pioline, a past finalist here. Right out of the chute, Safin has a big challenge.

There are six or seven players who won't win the championship, but they are people you don't want to meet in the early rounds -- call them sleepers.

SLEEPERS

Andy Roddick

Mal's Analysis

Roddick is a player who will win multiple majors in his career. I don't know if he's ready to win Wimbledon yet. He's so young and so fresh on the tour, he needs time to mature his all-court game. With his serve, he can get on a roll and wreak havoc with a draw.

Greg Rusedski

Mal's Analysis

Rusedski is a player who can beat anyone on any given day with one shot: his serve.

Mark Philippoussis

Mal's Analysis

Philippoussis won't win Wimbledon because he has had too much time off with injuries. Although it will be a shame if sometime in his career he doesn't win here. Philippoussis needed a wild card to get in. Last year, Ivanisevic won with a wild card, but the chances of it happening two years in a row -- you could get some great odds.

James Blake

Mal's Analysis

James Blake is playing in his first Wimbledon, and I think he's hungry enough to make his way through a few rounds in the tournament.

Pete Sampras

Mal's Analysis

It's very strange to call him a sleeper, but I don't think there's any way he's going to win Wimbledon. Still, Sampras is the best grass-courter of the past couple of decades -- if not the best ever -- so he's one to look out for.

Max Mirnyi

Mal's Analysis

In the past eight months, Mirnyi has beaten Sampras, Gustavo Kuerten, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Ivanisevic. You get Mirnyi on a surface that is very conducive to his game and he's dangerous. He's that player who on any given day, if he's playing well, can beat anyone on grass.

Todd Martin

Mal's Analysis

Martin is kind of standing on his last good leg. He has been to the semifinals on two occasions, and he's getting to the point where he's trying to make one last push at a major. If he can make it into that second week, anything can happen.