Barty as number one and Serena, to match Court's record

The local player Ashleigh Barty will start as first seed in the new edition of the Australian Open despite having been unemployed for practically a year after not competing as a result of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the American Serena Williams (11) will have a new opportunity to equal the record of 24 greats established by the local Margaret Court.

The first Grand Slam of the season already has the first 104 players who will directly access a final draw that will start for the first time in history on February 8. The start was postponed for three weeks as a result of the extensive negotiations held by the tournament organization and the state government with the intention, in turn, of setting the conditions of the mandatory quarantine to which both players and the members of their teams must submit. .

The current finalists will be in Melbourne Park for another year: the American and defending champion Sofia Kenin (4) and the Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza (15). The top ten favorites will be Ash Barty (1), Romanian Simona Halep (2), Japanese Naomi Osaka (3), Kenin (4), Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (5), Czech Karolina Pliskova (6), Canadian Bianca Andreescu (7) , the Czech Petra Kvitova (8), the Dutch Kiki Bertens (9) and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (10).

The Spanish representation will again be headed by Muguruza, who will start again as a favorite after not being seeded in the 2020 edition, and who will be accompanied by his compatriots Sara Sorribes (67) and Paula Badosa (70), the Canarian Carla Suárez will be missing, still recovering from Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Unlike the men's game in which Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have won 15 of the last 17 titles, the women's tournament has eight different champions since 2011. They are Kenin (2020), Osaka (2019), Danish Caroline Wozniacki (2018), Serena (2017 and 2015), German Angelique Kerber (2016), Chinese Li Na (2014), Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (2013 and 2012) and the Belgian Kim Clijsters (2011).