3 minute read
As the tennis season gets up and running, the eyes of the sporting world return to the game as the Australian Grand Slam takes centre stage.
In the women's event, Iga Swiatek is the clear favourite this year, and there can be no issue with that of course; she is currently ranked as the World No. 1 in women's singles by the WTA, having held the position for a total of 85 weeks.
However, while she is virtually unplayable at times on clay, she has been less effective in Australia, with a semi-final showing in 2022 her best run Down Under.
Her game is clearly in good order as she earned the United Cup's MVP award after putting together an unbeaten run in her singles matches for Poland at the recent team event, and she is 5/2 to win her first Aussie Open title.
But it is still fresh in the memory how Swiatek's march in the 2023 Australian Open was abruptly ended by the Elena Rybakina in the fourth round. Rybakina dominated on serve that day and won the match 6-4 6-4 to eliminate the Polish star.
Indeed, 2022 Wimbledon Champion Rybakina could be the player to get with in Melbourne. It kind of feels like her time. The 'Ice Queen' won in Brisbane recently and it was pure destruction all week. Every aspect of her game (the serve, movement across court, returns and groundies) were top notch and if she maintains that level in Melbourne, nobody is stopping her.
Rybakina put on a masterclass against Aryna Sabalenka in the Brisbane final, dusting the Belarussian superstar 6-0 6-3 to claim WTA title No 6 in Brisbane.
Sabalenka, the defending Australian Open champion who beat Rybakina in a titanic final in Melbourne last year, will be a big danger again and the duo are just behind Swiatek in terms of the outright betting.
The draw has been interesting. Fourth seeded Coco Gauff has been drawn into Sabalenka's half, with Rybakina occupying Swiatek's top half of the draw.
Gauff is poised to build on last year's breakout season after the American teenager won the 2023 US Open in some style, and she will have her backers at 7/1. Though still a work in progress, Gauff plays far more aggressively than she once did. Her serve has steadily improved since she first burst onto the scene at Wimbledon in 2019 and that forehand - once a liability opponents sought to exploit - is now a legitimate weapon.
Any match between Gauff and Sabalenka in week two would be pure sporting theatre. Sabalenka is an aggressive baseliner with the ability to finish points off at any time due to her outrageous power. When she is good, she is very, very good.
However, when things get tough the doubts, distress and disquiet begin to surface. She is always box-office, a thunderous mix of power and swagger but also someone who is vulnerable at her core.
Despite the waspish wit Oscar Wilde once saying, "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative", there's a feeling Rybakina is that bit stronger mentally than Sabalenka and for this reason she is tipped up to erase the painful memories of that 2023 final by finally getting over the line at Melbourne Park.
