AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023: Swiatek is No. 1; Gauff seeks 1st Slam

Top women to watch at the Australian Open, which begins at Melbourne Park on Monday morning : ___ IGA SWIATEK Ranked: 1 Career-Best Ranking: 1 Country: Poland Age: 21 2022 Record: 67-9 2022 Titles: 8 Career Titles: 11 Grand Slam Titles: 3 — French Open, U.S. Open Last 5 Australian Opens: 2022-Lost in Semifinals, 2021-Lost in 4th Round, 2020-4th, 2019-2nd, 2018-Did Not Play Aces: Made debut at No. That’s something that I’m excited for, because maybe it’s just going to get easier to play these matches.” ___ ONS JABEUR Ranked: 2 Career-Best Ranking: 2 Country: Tunisia Age: 28 2022 Record: 47-17 2022 Titles: 2 Career Titles: 3 Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Runner-Up, Wimbledon, U.S. Open Last 5 Australian Opens: 2022-DNP, 2021-2nd, 2020-QF, 2019-1st, 2018-1st Aces: After a surprising first-round French Open loss, turned things around to reach her first career Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.. She was the first woman since Serena Williams in 2019 to get to the title matches at both the All England Club and Flushing Meadows in the same season.. She is the woman from North Africa and first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam final.. Even though I had a great year, still hitting goals is always something that keeps you motivated and keeps you wanting to improve.” ___ CAROLINE GARCIA Ranked: 4 Career-Best Ranking: 4 Country: France Age: 29 2022 Record: 43-20 2022 Titles: 4 Career Titles: 11 Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: SF, U.S. Open Last 5 Australian Opens: 2022-1st, 2021-2nd, 2020-2nd, 2019-3rd, 2018-4th Aces: Revealed in a recent interview with French newspaper L’Equipe that she dealt with bulimia, triggered by losses and pain from a lingering foot injury.. Won the biggest title of her career at the season-ending WTA Finals in November.. Did not drop a set en route to her first Grand Slam semifinal at New York in September, before a 13-match winning streak ended with a loss to Jabeur.. Got to a career-best ranking of No. Eating soothed me for a few minutes.” ___ MARIA SAKKARI Ranked: 6 Career-Best Ranking: 3 Country: Greece Age: 27 2022 Record: 40-23 2022 Titles: Zero Career Titles: 1 Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: SF, French Open, U.S. Open Last 5 Australian Opens: 2022-4th, 2021-1st, 2020-4th, 2019-2nd, 2018-1st Aces: Victory over defending champion Swiatek at 2021 French Open put Sakkari in the semifinals of a major for first time, although she was eliminated at that stage after holding a match point against eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.. Says in the new Neftlix docuseries “Break Point” that she “retired for four days” after that loss.. Also got to the final four at the U.S. Open that year.. But the most important thing for me was that I had the same people — and the people I trust — next to me.” ___ COCO GAUFF Ranked: 7 Career-Best Ranking: 4 Country: United States Age: 18 2022 Record: 38-22 2022 Titles: Zero Career Titles: 3 Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Runner-Up, French Open Last 5 Australian Opens: 2022-1st, 2021-2nd, 2020-4th, 2019-DNP, 2018-DNP Aces: Tuneup title at Auckland this month was her first trophy at a hard-court tournament since 2019..