With two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka announcing she’s pulling out of this year’s tournament and 2022 winner Ash Barty now retired, we’re all looking at the other women in the circuit.
Here’s a quick wrap of 10 tennis players we’re watching out for as the “Summer of tennis” continues in Australia, and the Australian Open officially kicks off on January 16.
Iga Swiatek, Poland
Coming into the tournament ranked World No. 1 can be a good thing. For the 21-year old former French Open champion and last year’s US Open champion, she’ll be coming in strong, after being crowned Polish Sports Personality of the Year this week.
According to tennis experts, Swiatek has “no real weakness” on the court. That helps!
Ons Jabeur, Tunisia
This powerful player has already made history, becoming the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP rankings history.
At 28, Ons Jabeur is the current No. 1 Tunisian player, and recently received praise from Australian No. 1 Nick Kyrgios, who called her a “unique player”.
This week, Jabeur signed with Naomi Osaka’s sports agency Evolve.
Caroline Garcia, France
This 29-year old had an explosive latter half of 2022. She won the Bad Homburg Open, Poland Open, Cincinnati Open and reached the US Open semi-finals.
Now Caroline Garcia comes into the Australian Open ranked World No. 4.
However, it’s not been an easy journey – this week, she revealed her struggles with bulimia, telling The Age:
“Sometimes you just feel alone in your body and you need something to fill you up,” she said. “I went through over-food [over eating] and sometimes it was not very healthy. It was a tough relationship sometimes.”
“But I am more aware of it. I talked about it. And I try to fight it with different options.”
Destanee Aiava, Australia
As one of seven Australian players to successfully progress through to qualifiers this week, Destanee Aiava is happy to have been given a wildcard.
Aged 22, the world No. 325 is positive about her first grand slam tournament, especially considering the mental health struggles she’s faced in her life so far.
“I’m so happy. It’s my first grand slam match for a while and I’m just happy to get the win,” Aiava told Tennis Australia after her match yesterday against Turkey’s Ipek Oz.
“I didn’t put too much expectation on myself. I just wanted to go out and implement what I’ve been doing in training. I’m just looking to have fun this week. This is my favourite tournament of the year and I’m just super grateful to Tennis Australia for giving me a chance to compete in the qualifying.”
Maria Sakkari, Greece
As the World No. 6, Maria Sakkari says she is starting off the year happy and confident, revealing her excitement about playing in Australia again.
“I think that it’s the perfect place to start the year,” she told ausopen.com.
“The Australian culture is very special and unique. Everyone is really nice. There’s a large Greek community here too, so I do enjoy that a lot. I feel like I’m at home, especially in Melbourne, because everywhere I go, I can hear Greek.”
On Wednesday 11 January, Sakkari will join other tennis legends including Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Coco Gauff to take part in “Tennis Plays for Peace” – a charity tournament at the Rod Laver Arena to raise money for UNICEF Australia and Global Giving’s Ukraine humanitarian efforts.
Aryna Sabalenka, Berlarus
World No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka took out the Adelaide International over the weekend, beating Czech player Linda Nosková to claim her 11th WTA Tour title. The three-time Grand Slam semifinalist made back-to-back Australian Open round-of-16 in 2021 and 2022 and hopes to make 2023 her biggest year yet.
“You never know, I just feel that I’m ready to show my best and I [am] ready for big fight,” she told Tennis Majors. “That’s everything what I feel right now.”
“Before I used to be celebrating for a few days after winning a title. Right now, it’s just a moment. For a few seconds you feel like, ‘Yes, I did it,’ and you’re super happy and proud and all this stuff.”
Jessica Pegula, USA
World No 3. Jessica Pegula helped her country secure the inaugural United Cup after beating Italy’s Martina Trevisan in Sydney this week.
The 28-year old reached the quarter finals at last year’s Australian Open, the semi-finals in the Madrid Open, quarter finals at the French Open and partnered up with Coco Gauff in the doubles in the same tournament.
Coco Gauff, USA
World No. 7 Coco Gauff won her first hard-court title since 2019 this week, after beating Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova to secure the ASB Classic in Auckland.
“Honestly, a great week for me despite the rain,” Gauff told reporters after her win. “Couldn’t ask for a better start to my season. First title on hard since I was 15. I’m happy to be successful on a surface that I love.”
The 18-year old said she was confident heading into the Australian Open next week. “It gives me a lot of confidence, honestly,” she said. “You never know how your first week is gonna go. Could be good or terrible. But I think it’s been a great week for both of us.”
Dayana Yastremska, Ukraine
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska has been promoted to the main draw to replace two-time champion Naomi Osaka who has confirmed she will not play at this year’s Australian Open.
As the 21st-ranked player from Ukraine, Yastremska is excited to get back to playing, after missing 2022 tournaments due to a doping suspension, which was later dropped on appeal. When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Yastremska and her family escaped to Romania, and eventually settled in France.
“I am scared for my parents, my friends, and everybody in my country,” she told ESPN in a feature last February. “For you to understand what a missile strike is like, you need to feel it. But, I wish [nobody] has to ever feel this [pain].”
Maddison Inglis, Australia
Ranked No. 180, Maddison Inglis will be energised to begin her Australian Open campaign after debuting at the United Cup in Sydney recently. The 24-year old made her Grand Slam main-draw debut in 2015 at the doubles event partnering with fellow Aussie player, Alexandra Nancarrow.
In January 2020, she won the Burnie International, defeating US player Sachia Vickery.