Aryna Sabalenka To Coco Gauff: Five Women To Watch At The Australian Open

World number one Aryna Sabalenka will be hot favourite to secure an Australian Open hat-trick, having won the past two years at Melbourne Park.

In-form Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek are her biggest threats, but Zheng Qinwen could be primed for a Slam breakthrough after a stellar 2024, while emerging talent Mirra Andreeva could upset some top names.

IOL Sport highlights five women to watch at the first Grand Slam of the year starting on Sunday:

The Belarusian comes into the Australian Open on the back of the best year of her career in which she won the US Open as well as retaining her Melbourne Park crown.

The powerful 26-year-old also won in Cincinnati and at the WTA 1000 at Wuhan, her fourth title of the year, which helped her unseat Iga Swiatek as world number one.