Top five women's singles players to watch out for in Australian Open 2022

These five tennis stars are the cream of the crop in the women's singles division at the competition.

Australian Open 2022, the first Grand Slam of the year will begin from 17th January onwards. It will see the top tennis stars battle it out for ultimate glory. This year year too will be no different. Despite the fact that some big names will be missing out this season.

Talking about the women's singles category Naomi Osaka will be looking to defend her title this year. However the likes of Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Jennifer Brady among others would be missing out.

So here we will do a countdown of the top five contenders for the women's singles trophy at the Australian Open 2022.

5. Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek can be a true dark horse in this year's Australian Open. The Polish star has two consecutive 4th round finishes in 2020 and 2021. On top of that Iga had a good year in 2021.She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open that year. Moreover Iga also qualified to the quarter finals of the French Open.

The 20 year old also won the Italian Open in 2021. She beat Karolina Pliskova in the finals in a dominant display. The Polish youngster has shown great potential in her young career. With a French Open title already in her kitty she will be determined to add another Grand Slam to her name.

4. Garbine Muguruza

Garbine Muguraza came very close to winning the Australian Open in 2020. However things didn't go her way that time around. She eventually lost in the finals against Sofia Kenin . But she definitely shocked the world with that performance as she came in unseeded and went that far.

This time though she is going in as one of the favourites. Moreover she also has an impressive win record at Melbourne. She has won 26 of the 35 matches played there. The Spaniard has already won the French Open (2016) and Wimbledon (2017). A victory here would make it a hattrick of Grand Slams for her.

3. Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka the only player on this list who is yet to win a Grand Slam. But can that happen this year at the Australian Open ? The Belarusian would certainly hope so. Equipped with a powerful ground game and fierce serves that can reach 194 km/hr, she is a nightmare for opponents. She can hit aces at will.

The only thing that is lacking for her at this point is her ability to cross that semi-final hurdle Grand Slams. Aryna also had a great year in 2021 and that will give her that added confidence. Her last outing in the Australian Open saw her reach the four round before falling at the hands of Serena Williams ( 4-6,6-2,4-6).

2.Ashleigh Barty

Hometown hero Ashleigh Barty enters the Australian Open as the no. 1 seed. Barty will carry the hope of her nation on her shoulders as she will step out on the hard courts.

Despite winning the French Open and Wimbledon, Barty is yet to win an Australian Open crown. Despite playing in the finals of the Australian Open as a doubles player she has yet to do so in the singles category. Her closest attempt for the trophy came in 2020 when she reached the semi-final.

The following year she again managed to reach the quarter-final but fell short against Karolina Muchova.

1.Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka is surely the unanimous favorite to lift the Australian Open Trophy yet again. This is despite the fact that she is not in the top 10 anymore. She is the only one in the women's singles category this year to have lifted the trophy twice. The first win came in in 2019 as she beat Petra Kvitova in three sets 7-6,5-7,6-4.

Her second Australian Open title victory came in 2021. She beat American Jennifer Brady in straight sets (6-4,6-3) to achieve that feat. Osaka has a whopping 85% win rate at the Australian Open. She will like to keep that green patch running at Melbourne.

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