Betting against one of the ‘Big Four’ lifting the Australian Open men’s crown would be foolhardy, but you’d need a crystal ball to predict the outcome of the women’s draw. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have exerted a stranglehold over the men’s game, winning 30 grand slams between them with a hungry Andy Murray lurking just behind them in the rankings. In sharp contrast, the top three female players have a combined total of just one slam and last year there were four different champions in tennis’s blue riband events, as the women’s game waits for its next big thing. The women’s draw is one of the most open in years and adding to the sense of uncertainty in Melbourne are recent injuries to superstars Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams.
Belgium’s Clijsters, the 11th seed, is defending champion at the year’s opening grand slam. Second seed Petra Kvitova won on grass at Wimbledon and Australia’s Samantha Stosur took the US Open title. The name missing from the 2011 list of winners is top seed Caroline Wozniacki, yet to win her first grand slam, whose world number one ranking is under imminent threat from rising star Kvitova.
