Aryna Sabalenka heads into the Australian Open high in confidence after winning the Brisbane International as she chases her third Melbourne title in four years.
The world No.1 has formed a love affair with the Grand Slam after reaching the final three years in a row, which is something last achieved by Serena Williams. Now aiming for a hat-trick of titles, Sabalenka will start her latest campaign against French wildcard Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah. In her section of the draw stand two players who know what it is like to play in a major final. In the second round, she could play 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who also has a solid record at the Australian Open. 34-year-old Pavlyuchenkova is a four-time quarter-finalist of the tournament, including last year. Then a potential showdown with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu looms.
“There are so many things I can improve at, and that’s the beauty of sport. There is always that little percent for little room for improvement.” Sabalenka told reporters in Brisbane.
“I definitely feel really great about my game, about my tennis, but I also know that there are a lot of things to improve and to work on. That’s what we’re gonna focus on next week.”
Further in the draw, Sabalenka is projected to play Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals and then Coco Gauff in the semi-finals.
In the other section, Iga Swiatek will be hoping to shake-off recent doubts about her form with a solid performance against Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue. The Pole recently played at the United Cup, where she lost to both Gauff and Belinda Bencic. However, she won her other three matches against players ranked outside the top 30.
“Everything is fine. Just super sore,” Swiatek said at the end of her United Cup campaign.
“First tournament of the year, it causes the body (to feel) a bit different. Differently than during the season.
“But I had a similar experience last year also, so I’ll just get a good recovery, a couple of days off.
“Also, these team events, I really love them, but they really take a lot of energy from you.”
Swiatek is in the same section as Naomi Osaka, who she could play in the fourth round. Two-time champion Osaka faces Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic in her opening match. Other names to watch out for include 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova and 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya.
A generational clash could take place between 45-year-old Venus Williams and 21-year-old Gauff if they both win their opening matches. Williams is the oldest woman to play in the main draw of the event after receiving a wildcard. Her opening match is against Olga Danilović, and it will mark the 28th anniversary of her debut appearance at Melbourne Park.
“I can’t wait (to return). I’ll take what I need to learn from this and keep going,” Williams said after losing to Tatjana Maria at the ASB Classic last week.
Gauff’s first round match will be against Kamilla Rakhimova, who is now representing Uzbekistan after switching from Russia. Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, former French Open finalist Karolina Muchova and Emma Navarro are in her bracket of the draw.
Defending champion Madison Keys is seeded ninth and plays Oleksandra Oliynykova in the first round. Since her triumph 12 months ago, Keys has yet to feature in another Tour final. At this week’s Adelaide International, she was beaten in the quarter-finals by Victoria Mboko.
Elsewhere, Amanda Anisimova starts against Switzerland’s Simona Waltert, Elena Rybakina faces Kaja Juvan and Paolini opens up against Anastasia Zakharova.
The full draw can be viewed HERE.
