There are sizable favorites in both the men’s and women’s fields at the Australian Open: Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek. But they are not going to be handed trophies on a silver player–especially not in the case of Swiatek, who has never triumphed Down Under.
The world No. 1 lost in the year-end championship semifinals to conclude 2022 and her recent United Cup campaign ended with a 6-2, 6-2 setback against Jessica Pegula. Swiatek is by no means unbeatable, so here is a look at four other women who could contend for the Aussie Open title.
Ons Jabeur
Jabeur is the No. 2 player in the world, yet she still seems to be flying under the radar. That’s because her 2022 fall swing was unspectacular and she lost last week in Adelaide to world No. 102 Linda Noskova. But don’t sleep on the veteran Tunisian–especially not on the biggest stages in tennis. After all, she has finished runner-up at each of the past two slams (Wimbledon and the U.S. Open). Jabeur has a favorable draw at Melbourne Park, too, so there is no reason why she can’t get over the hump and go all the way.
Carolina Garcia
Garcia is coming off the best year of her career in which she lifted a 1000-point trophy in Cincinnati, made a run to the U.S. Open semis, and triumphed at the year-end championship. The Frenchwoman has always been one of the most talented players in the world (just ask Andy Murray!) and now she is putting it all together. Garcia will fancy her chances in the bottom half of the bracket, too–away from Swiatek, Pegula, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, 2021 U.S. Open champ Emma Raducanu, 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, and Danielle Collins. Garcia may have to face Leylah Fernandez in the second round, but she otherwise has a great draw.
Jessica Pegula
As mentioned above, Pegula destroyed Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 at the United Cup while compiling a 4-1 record overall and leading the United States to the title. The 28-year-old heads to Melbourne with a ton of momentum and looks poised for more Grand Slam success. She is already a two-time Aussie Open quarterfinalist and reached the quarters at three of the four majors in 2022. Pegula finds herself in a difficult top half of the draw but as that result against Swiatek suggests, it may not matter who is on the other side of the net.
Belinda Benic
Bencic is coming off a title in Adelaide, where she positively crushed opponents for the most part. The Swiss capped off her run with a 6-0, 6-2 rout of Daria Kasatkina. Grand Slams have rarely been kind to Bencic; she has reached only one semifinal (2019 U.S. Open) and has never even been to a quarterfinal outside of New York. That being said, she is no stranger to success on the big stage. The 25-year-old captured gold a the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. In the bottom half of the draw away from Swiatek, Bencic has a great opportunity.
thread for AO WTA discussion
Thank you, Ricky; nice post too.
Any one of them could win or someone we are not expecting!
I went for Swiatek over Sabalenka in the final. Though Bencic could go all the way on her form. I just like picking Aryna with her game on a fast surface.
I’ve got Iga over Ons in the final, not sure about Ons, she was vinjured, with Belinda,Coco, Anya, Layla going deep. Just heard Emma is through to next round. Have her going out 2nd
Yes, I guessed you would go for Sabalenka, Big Al. I switched back to Swiatek over Bencic at the last frantic minute.
Margot, the one that I think will win AO is Pegula. But I can’t pick her – She’s the last one I want to win AO. Pegula beat Iga in that United Cup. Pegula is the American favorite, for sure. I get stubbornly against hyped Americans, as a rule. There’s likely a name for people like me with this disorder. What is it?
I thought you would pick Ons, but then one as savvy as you would have her in the final with Iga winning.
It will be fun to see who wins.
And Farah Diba is in the bracket! If I had one wish, I would sit in the same room with you and Farah Diba and have a lively conversation about who goes where in this AO WTA bracket. My ESP doesn’t work.
Hey Farah Diba? Are you reading?
Got her JP going out to Ons, again not sure.
I was just reading about Rafa’s loss to McDonald but it’s tough to watch any matches from AO. When I got up TC was replaying the match, and it was clear he was in pain. I thought it was a foot injury, but Ricky has written that this is about a hip. That’s bad news. Rafa will do all he can to keep going as he is very adamant about how he is not ready to retire! He will be back to AO next year and hopefully, he will be ready to win RG. It is too heartbreaking to think otherwise.
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/02/1146569305/martina-navratilova-cancer
She is in my thoughts all the time now. I didn’t realize how much she meant to me until I heard of her diagnosis.
Sad.
Out goes everyone’s pick to win, as Rybakina goes on another tear.
Ospapenko coming through too.
I was sorry to hear about Martina’s cancer diagnosis. She has bern doing commentary for the tennis channel from home.
I thought of all the matches I watched her play. Here is wishing her the best and a full recovery. God bless her.
Indeed. Martina was a great player, one of the GOATs for sure. Now she’s a great commentator. Really wish TC would use her more!
Rybakina v Azarenka semifinal sounds good. I lean toward Rybakina getting her second GS title. Sabalenka is much improved from previous years and could win this year.
I would never have imagined Magda Linette getting so far. I think team Aga has been helping her.
Sabalenka has been working with a specialist technical coach, to improve her serve, Saw stats showing her double faults last year, nightmare.
Coaching paying dividends.
testing
Why can’t I post Here? The test went through, but my post about WTA did not
Oh, okay, finally I see it. No big deal.