The home crowd had a treat in the women’s Australian Open last year when the Australian ace Ash Barty won the title before retiring from the sport soon after. The stars of tennis head to Melbourne to see who will follow in her footsteps.
Iga Swiatek was the woman of the year in 2022 and she will be looking to add a title she has never won to her trophy haul to get 2023 up and running. Some decent players will be looking to deny her that title.
Recent Winners
2022 – Ash Barty
2021 – Naomi Osaka
2020 – Sofia Kenin
2019 – Naomi Osaka
2018 – Caroline Wozniacki
2017 – Serena Williams
2016 – Angelique Kerber
2015 – Serena Williams
2014 – Li Na
2013 – Viktoria Azarenka
The Format
As with the men’s draw, the tournament bracket has already been pre-drawn and everyone in their places to prepare for the event. From the first round until the last ball is hit in this tournament each match will be the best-of-three sets but unlike the old days should the final set reach 6-6 a champion’s tiebreak will be played with the match winner being the first to 10pts with at least a two point advantage.
Top Quarter
As the world number one Iga Swiatek is the top seed in the draw this year and she has been placed right at the top of the first quarter. She won the US Open and the French Open in 2022 and will go in search of another Grand Slam here. She is seeded for a blockbuster quarter final with Coco Gauff if the draw works out that way here. The other five seeds looking to get 2023 off to a great start are Qinwen Zheng, Jelena Ostapenko, Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina and Maria Bouzkova. Paula Badosa was due to be in her but she pulled out with an injury.
Such is the way the women’s rankings chop and change so constantly there are always competent players without a seeding next to their name. In this quarter they include the former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu while Wimbledon quarter finalist Jule Niemeier will be the first opponent for Swiatek. Karolina Muchova, Danaya Yastremska, Caty McNally and another former US Open champion in Emma Raducanu are all capable of doing damage this week.
Second Quarter
Jessica Pegula has already tasted success this season as she was part of the USA team which won the United Cup just over a week ago. She will be the highest seed in the second quarter and is in line for a possible quarter final clash with Maria Sakkari. Jil Teichmann, former winner Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova and Amanda Anisimova are the other seeds in the second section.
There aren’t quite as many recognisable names among the unseeded players in this quarter but we do have the likes of Marta Kostyuk, Coco Vandeweghe, Alison Van Uytvanck and Nadia Podoroska who have all had varying levels of success in the past. Sofia Kenin won this title three years ago and she will be looking to go well again this year while British eyes will be on Harriet Dart who has landed in this section of the draw.
Third Quarter
The US Open finalist Caroline Garcia is the leading light in the third quarter of the draw. She goes in search of back-to-back Grand Slam finals over the course of this fortnight and is seeded to run into the Adelaide finalist Daria Kasatkina in the quarter final if everything goes to plan and the rankings. Irina Begu, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anett Kontaveit, Veronika Kudermetova, Shuai Zhang and Karolina Pliskova are the other seeds who are looking to progress deep in this section.
Big names jump out throughout this section of the draw and they include the Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria. Yulia Putintseva is usually a seed in these events while Petra Martic has been in the past too. Katie Volynets, Magda Linette, Taylor Townsend and the former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez are all in here looking to show what they can do. Alize Cornet is no stranger to the second week of a Grand Slam either.
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Bottom Quarter
The US Open champion Ons Jabeur is number two in the world rankings now and she will go in search of a second succession Grand Slam title from the bottom quarter. She is seeded to face Aryna Sabalenka in the last eight but the other six seeds in this section will be hoping to be in that match themselves. They are Kaia Kanepi, Liudmila Samsonova, Beatriz Haddad-Maia, the Adelaide 2 champion Belinda Bencic, Martina Trevisan and Elise Mertens.
There are loads of great unseeded players in this bottom quarter of the draw. The standout pair are the former Grand Slam winning duo of Garbine Muguruza and Sloane Stephens, who will both be out to prove they can still play the game to a high level. Shelby Rogers is more than capable of a deep run over this fortnight while Anastasia Pavlyuchchenkova, Camila Giorgi, Madison Brengle, Donna Vekic, Alison Riske-Amritraj, Marketa Vondrousova and Tamara Zidansek will all be looking to remind everyone of their talent.
Outright Betting
I liked what I saw from Jessica Pegula at the United Cup and I think she is ready to win a big tournament. She is in the same half of the draw as Iga Swiatek this week but she did a good job on her in that event and that might serve her well should the pair meet in the semi-final here. Pegula looks to be hitting the ball so well at the minute and tactically she played so well in some big matches in that United Cup event. She is up to number three in the world so the next step is to go very deep in a tournament of this kind. I think she has the draw to do that this fortnight.
Daria Kasatkina sits at eight in the world rankings and when you consider she wasn’t allowed to play in the UK events last year that shows how well she has performed over the rest of the ranking span. She hasn’t started 2023 brilliantly but she did make the final of Adelaide 2 last week albeit courtesy of a walkover against Paula Badosa in the semi-final. Prior to that though she beat Petra Kvitova and Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets and they are a sign that she is hitting the ball nicely. Her draw is one which could easily open up quite quickly and at the prices I’ll pay to see if she can go deep here.
Quarter Betting
Danielle Collins is in the top 16 of the world rankings even though here 14 events played is the joint lowest of anyone in the top 32. A lot of that is down to making the final here a year ago and she obviously needs a big run to keep hold of her position in the rankings but with Iga Swiatek looking a little low on confidence at times in the United Cup, that deep run may well come along, especially as the American knows she beat the world number one in the last four here last year.
I always like backing a player who is returning to the scene of some positive memories and that definitely applies to Collins here. Collins was previously a semi-finalist in this tournament so she clearly has good vibes around Melbourne. She warmed up for the event with wins over Karolina Pliskova and Jil Teichmann in Adelaide last week and with the ability to build her way into the competition I’ll pay to see if she peaks in the second week again.
Tips
Back J.Pegula to win Australian Open (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 11.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back D.Collins to win 1st Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back them here:
Back D.Kasatkina to win Australian Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfred (1/2 1-2)
