A defending champion at the 2025 Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka will kick-start the new season by featuring at the Brisbane International which kick-starts from the final week of December 2024.
Sabalenka, who is 5/2 to grab the Australian Open title yet again, will be joined by three other players from the top 10 on the rankings – Americans Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina of Russia.
Having finished as the runner-up in the previous edition of the Brisbane International (get all the betting information of this tournament here) after losing to Elena Rybakina in the final, Sabalenka will now look to go one better as she takes to court for the first time in 2025.
While Rybakina won’t be a part of this competition in 2025, the Brisbane draw will also have Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Ostapenko and Ons Jabeur in the line-up. Both Azarenka and Ostapenko have won a Grand Slam title in the past while Jabeur is a two-time Wimbledon runner-up.
The other WTA tournament that kick-starts the women’s tennis season begins in the same week will be held in Auckland. The draw for the Auckland Classic, as the tournament is called, will be led by Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu.
Both former Grand Slam winners too will have Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin for company.
Some of the other top players in the women’s tennis world, Iga Swiatek (who is 2/1 to win the Australian Open) and Cori Gauff (5/2 at the season’s first major), will start off their 2025 journey with the United Cup.
While Swiatek will lead Poland in the competition, USA will have Gauff looking to help them reclaim the title they had won in 2023.
