MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Here are some of the top women at the Australian Open, which starts at Melbourne Park on Sunday local time (Saturday night EST), with money-line odds via BetMGM Sportsbook:
Aryna Sabalenka
Seeding: 1
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Belarus
Age: 26
2024 Record: 56-14
2024 Titles: 4
Career Titles: 18
Grand Slam Titles: 3 — Australian Open (2: 2023, 2024), U.S. Open (1: 2024)
Last 5 Australian Opens: 2024-Won Championship, 2023-W, 2022-Lost in 4th Rd, 2021-4th, 2020-1st
Aces: Went 18-1 in Grand Slam play last season, the best showing by a woman since Serena Williams was 26-1 in 2015. ... Won the past two Australian Open titles and is listed as the money-line favorite this time in Melbourne Park. ... Won 27 of her past 28 matches in Australia, including a title last week in Brisbane. ... Took over as No. 1 from Iga Swiatek late last season. ... Recently joined Evolve, the agency founded by Naomi Osaka and her representative.
She Said It: “You always have to look for something to improve. I think I will never stop working on my serve.”
Read All About It: Sabalenka is as good as it gets on hard courts
Odds Are: +240
Iga Swiatek
Seeding: 2
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Poland
Age: 23
2024 Record: 61-9
2024 Titles: 5
Career Titles: 22
Grand Slam Titles: 5 — French Open (4: 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024), U.S. Open (1: 2022)
Last 5 Australian Opens: 2024-3rd, 2023-4th, 2022-SF, 2021-4th, 2020-4th
Aces: Accepted a one-month suspension in November after testing positive for a banned substance she said came from a contaminated supplement. ... Was ranked No. 1 for most of 2022, 2023 and 2024, before ceding the stop spot while she was sidelined by her doping case — although no one knew at the time she was barred from competing. ... Is 5-0 in Grand Slam finals. ... Paired with veteran coach Wim Fissette late last year.
She Said It: “For sure, I’m not a complete player. I think tactically there are many ways I could go and have more variety on court. Wim has some nice ideas.”
Read All About It: An explanation of Swiatek's doping case
Odds Are: +400
Coco Gauff
Seeding: 3
Career-Best Ranking: 2
Country: United States
Age: 20
2024 Record: 54-17
2024 Titles: 3
Career Titles: 9
Grand Slam Titles: 1 — U.S. Open (2023)
Last 5 Australian Opens: 2024-SF, 2023-4th, 2022-1st, 2021-2nd, 2020-4th
Aces: Beat Iga Swiatek while helping the U.S. win the United Cup last week. ... Gauff's total earnings — prize money plus endorsement deals — of $30.4 million in 2024 put her at No. 1 among all female athletes, according to Sportico. ... Split from coach Brad Gilbert and hired Matt Daly to work alongside Jean-Christophe “JC” Faurel after the U.S. Open. Daly seems to have helped Gauff alter her grips for her forehand and serve. ... Closed 2024 by winning the WTA Finals for the first time, her biggest title since the 2023 U.S. Open. ... Has won one Grand Slam title in singles and one in doubles.
She Said It: “The key is, when you reach a low, the only way you can go is up. So ... I just said, ‘Well, I have to get better at some things, and just try to do that.’"
Read All About It: Gauff ends her 2024 season with a WTA Finals title and a big turnaround
Odds Are: +400
Jasmine Paolini
Seeding: 4
Career-Best Ranking: 4
Country: Italy
Age: 29
2024 Record: 41-20
2024 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 2
Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2024), Wimbledon (2024)
Last 5 Australian Opens: 2024-4th, 2023-1st, 2022-1st, 2021-1st, 2020-1st
Aces: Was 0-4 at the Australian Open for her career until last year's breakthrough run to the fourth round, which helped catapult her to a terrific season. ... Each of her initial 16 Grand Slam appearances resulted in losses in the first or second round, a rut that ended at Melbourne in 2024. ... Teamed with Sara Errani to win a gold medal for Italy in women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics and helped the country win the Billie Jean King Cup.
She Said It: “If somebody told me at the beginning of the year, ‘You’re going to play WTA Finals, singles and doubles,’ that would be crazy.”
Read All About It: Paolini wins Wimbledon’s longest semifinal to reach a 2nd Slam final
Odds Are: +3300
Zheng Qinwen
Seeding: 5
Career-Best Ranking: 5
Country: China
Age: 22
2024 Record: 50-18
2024 Titles: 3
Career Titles: 5
Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Runner-Up, Australian Open (2024)
Last 5 Australian Opens: 2024-RU, 2023-2nd, 2022-2nd, 2021-Did Not Play, 2020-DNP
Aces: A rising star who made it to her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in January 2024, then picked up her most significant title so far at the Paris Olympics in August. ... Working with Dante Bottini — who has coached Kei Nishikori and others — in Australia this year while her principal coach, Pere Riba, is out because of surgery.
She Said It: Winning a gold medal “was the best moment, by far, in my career.”
Read All About It: Zheng Qinwen wins China’s 1st Olympic singles tennis gold
Odds Are: +1400
Elena Rybakina
Seeding: 6
Career-Best Ranking: 3
Country: Kazakhstan
Age: 25
2024 Record: 42-11
2024 Titles: 3
Career Titles: 8
Grand Slam Titles: 1 — Wimbledon (2022)
Last 5 Australian Opens: 2024-2nd, 2023-RU, 2022-2nd, 2021-2nd, 2020-3rd
Aces: Coaching situation is a bit in flux: She split from Stefano Vukov and hired Goran Ivanisevic, then brought back Vukov recently. But the WTA recently said that Vukov “is currently under a provisional suspension pending an independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA Code of Conduct” and so cannot be credentialed by the tour. ... Her big hitting carried her to the 2023 final in Melbourne.
She Said It: “(Vukov) never mistreated me. ... I'm not really happy with this situation.”
Read All About It: Rybakina's first Grand Slam title came at Wimbledon in 2022
Odds Are: +900
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
