Iga Swiatek is the reigning world No 1 and Aryna Sabalenka is the Australian Open defending champion, but neither of them is tennis legend Martina Navratilova’s favourite to win this year’s season-opening Grand Slam.
That honour goes to the in-form Elena Rybakina as the world No 3 will be “super motivated” and high on confidence, according to Navratilova.
Rybakina, who finished runner-up to Sabalenka at Melbourne Park last year, has kicked off her 2024 season in impressive fashion as she won the Brisbane International, brushing Sabalenka 6-0, 6-3 aside in the final, and she followed it up with a run to the quarter-final of the Adelaide International this week.
Tennis great Navratilova is tipping the Kazakh star for the title at Melbourne Park as the surface suits her better than Swiatek, but she also doesn’t rule the Pole out.
“She dropped, what, 15 games in five matches to open the season? She’s been serving great. After losing the final last year, she’ll be super motivated,” the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion told the official WTA Tour website.
“So, I think for me, she’s the favourite right now. Because the surface suits her better than Swiatek. And she’s got to have a lot of confidence about the way she played, dominating and being healthy. It’s between Swiatek and Rybakina.”
Swiatek and Rybakina are in the same half of the draw and they could meet in the semi-final if the seedings hold at Melbourne Park.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek has been handed a tricky route as she faces former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin first up while she could also play Angelique Kerber and Jelena Ostapenko.
Rybakina, meanwhile, opens her campaign against former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova.
World No 3 Rybakina holds a 3-1 advantage over Swiatek in their head-to-head while the Kazakh player is 3-5 against Sabalenka.
As for defending champion Sabalenka, Navratilova believes it will be interesting to see how the world No 2 responds after being “blown out” by Rybakina.
“Brisbane was an amazing tournament, because Sabalenka’s going 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 and thinking, ‘Ooh, I’m doing really well.’ She was dominant, getting better every match – then she got blown out,” she said. “She’s not used to that – let’s see what she comes up with as an answer.”
Sabalenka faces teenager Ella Seidel in the first round with Coco Gauff, who beat her in last year’s US Open final at Flushing Meadows, a projected semi-final opponent.