The 32
seeded players who will lead the main draw of the 2024
Australian Open, taking
place between January 14 and 28, 2024, have been confirmed. The list is topped
by the top 8 players in the rankings and features several notable absences
within the top 30. The tournament's top contenders include four Grand Slam
champions:
Iga Swiatek,
Aryna Sabalenka,
Elena Rybakina, and
Coco Gauff.
The
opportunity to enter as seeded players allows the top-ranked players to avoid
facing opponents from the higher echelons of the rankings in the early rounds.
The top 8 is completed by Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Marketa Vondrousova, and
Maria Sakkari.
The players
will have a few rounds to find their best form against lower-ranked opponents.
For instance, the world No. 1 and 2, Swiatek and Sabalenka, can only meet in a
hypothetical final. Similarly, if the top seeds capitalize on their chances
against lower-ranked opponents, the top two could potentially face Elena
Rybakina or Coco Gauff only in the semifinals.
The next
eight seeded players could face top-8 opponents only in the quarterfinals.
Among the notable names are former Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova,
Jelena Ostapenko, as well as players of the caliber of Beatriz Haddad Maia and
Qinwen Zheng.
The seeds
from 16th to 32nd include players like Victoria Azarenka, Elina Svitolina, and
Ekaterina Alexandrova, posing significant threats to the top seeds starting
from the third round. The cutoff
for seeded players was the 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez. In case of
any last-minute withdrawals, the next players on the list are the former world
No. 1 Karolina Pliskova and the 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
The current
champion is Aryna Sabalenka, who in 2023 defeated Elena Rybakina in the final
with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to secure her first Grand Slam title. The same
matchup occurred recently in the final of the WTA 500 Brisbane International,
but this time, it was the 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina who claimed the
title (6-0, 6-3).