FILE PHOTO: Tennis - China Open - China National Tennis Center, Beijing, China - October 1, 2024 Japan's Naomi Osaka in action during her round of 16 match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
(Reuters) - The following are the dark horses for the women's singles title at the Australian Open, which starts on Sunday:
JASMINE PAOLINI (ITALY)
Ranking: 4
Paolini is no longer an underdog after her standout season last year when the 29-year-old from Tuscany finished runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon while she also won doubles gold at the Paris Olympics.
Having capped off 2024 with the Billie Jean King Cup title with Italy, Paolini will hope to improve on last year's fourth-round exit when she returns to Melbourne Park ranked a career-high world number four.
Paolini, who has an aggressive style of play and relies on powerful groundstrokes to overwhelm her opponents, did not play a hard-court tournament until she was a teenager but both her WTA singles titles have come on the surface.
While she is capable of producing a real upset, Paolini will have to do better than the 6-2 6-2 United Cup quarter-final loss to Czech Karolina Muchova to become the first Italian women to win the Australian Open.
ELENA RYBAKINA (KAZAKHSTAN)
Ranking: 6
Rybakina is looking to add a second Grand Slam title to her trophy cabinet after her Wimbledon triumph in 2022.
The big-serving Russian-born Kazakh, who came agonisingly close at the 2023 Australian Open when she lost to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final, has hired Novak Djokovic's former coach Goran Ivanisevic for the 2025 season.
While there are no doubts about Rybakina's quality, the 25-year-old missed several tournaments last year -- including the Paris Olympics and the U.S. Open -- through illness and injury.
But she helped Kazakhstan to reach the semi-finals of the United Cup before losing to five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.
JESSICA PEGULA (U.S.)
Ranking: 7
Pegula is still seeking an elusive Grand Slam title after narrowly missing out on the U.S. Open crown last year when the 30-year-old lost to three-times major winner Sabalenka.
While Pegula had plenty of positives to take away from her maiden singles Grand Slam final, her Australian Open preparations have been hampered by a knee injury which forced her out of the tune-up tournament in Brisbane.
If Pegula can overcome the setback, she would be poised for a deep run at Melbourne Park, where she reached three straight quarter-finals from 2021 to 2023.
Pegula's strength lies in her timing and her prowess on the hardcourts could give her a shot and help her to pull off upsets like she did at Flushing Meadows where she knocked out world number two Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
NAOMI OSAKA (JAPAN)
Ranking: 50
Since returning to action after a 15-month maternity break in January last year, the 27-year-old four-times Grand Slam champion has struggled to recapture the form that earned her the Australian Open title in 2019 and 2021.
Osaka, who crashed out of the opening round of the Australian Open last year, was in strong form leading up to her quest for a first title in four years, but her run at the Auckland Classic ended in heartbreak.
She was forced to retire from the final with an abdominal injury but she said on Monday that she remained optimistic about playing at the Australian Open.
The former world number one, who pushed eventual champion Swiatek to the brink at the French Open last year, boasts a powerful serve and aggressive baseline play that continues to make the Japanese player deadly on her day.
"I think 2024 humbled me but I also feel like I grew a lot," Osaka said in December. "I worked way harder than I've ever worked before.
"So in that, I guess it was very painful to not get the results I wanted but I feel like I'm growing and learning and I'm really excited for this year."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
