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:
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.”
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.”
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.’”
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.”
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.”
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.
