No other tour-based sport starts the year with as much of a bang as tennis does with the Australian Open. And no player is likely happier about that than Aryna Sabalenka, who kicked off each of her last two seasons in style by lifting the trophy in Melbourne.

Can she make it three in a row? The National Bank Open Power Rankings are back to size up the field as the 2025 season kicks into high gear at the Australian Open.

1. Aryna Sabalenka

Actual Ranking: 1
2024 Record: 56-14
Best Australian Open Result: Champion (twice)

Aryna Sabalenka was the Queen of the Hard Courts in 2024, winning both majors on the surface and a pair of WTA 1000 titles. It’s been apparent for several years that the big-hitting 26-year-old is at her best on fast surfaces, but last year she was THE player to beat.

The world No. 1 arrives in Melbourne already with a victory under her belt, having just won the title in Brisbane. Dating back to Cincinnati, she is 28-3 overall, with two of those three losses coming at the end of what must have been an exhausting season at the WTA Finals.

Read also: Sabalenka Cements Top Dog Status - Best WTA Stories of 2024

Sabalenka has lost just one set in the last two years in Melbourne. How can you bet against the two-time defending champion?

2. Coco Gauff

Actual Ranking: 3
2024 Record: 54-17
Best Australian Open Result: Semifinal (2024)

Arguably the most in-form player in the world right now is not actually the world No. 1.

Coco Gauff will arrive in Melbourne on a nine-match winning streak. She finished 2024 with a bang by winning the WTA Finals, beating Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek en route, and picked up where she left off to start 2025, not dropping a set as she led the United States to victory at the United Cup. Her run included wins over Swiatek, Karolina Muchova, Donna Vekic and Leylah Annie Fernandez.

It seems over the last few months that the 20-year-old has refound her top level after a difficult summer. The former US Open champion reached the semifinals last year in Melbourne and should be full of confidence heading into the first major of 2025.

3. Iga Swiatek

Actual Ranking: 2
2024 Record: 64-9
Best Australian Open Result: Semifinal (2022)

To say it has been a tough few months for Iga Swiatek would be an understatement. Between losing her grip on the No. 1 ranking, a coaching change, and a suspension for a failed drug test, the Pole is dealing with a lot right now.

Even though she was surpassed in the rankings by Sabalenka in 2024, Swiatek still managed to win her fifth major and added four WTA 1000 titles, two of them on hard courts.

Her one event so far in 2025 was the United Cup, where on the one hand she scored an impressive victory over nemesis Elena Rybakina but lost for the second time in a row to Gauff, a rivalry the Pole has historically dominated. The Australian Open has also been Swiatek’s toughest major over the last two years, so it is hard to know what to expect from the 23-year-old.

4. Elena Rybakina

Actual Ranking: 6
2024 Record: 43-11
Best Australian Open Result: Runner-up (2023)

Rybakina came out swinging to start 2025 with three dominant victories at the United Cup before running into Swiatek.

Read also: 2024 WTA Awards - NBO Power Rankings Panel’s Version

The calculus with the Kazakhstani is pretty simple: when she is healthy, she is one of the best players in the world, but staying fully fit has been a challenge for her. 2024 was full of injury withdrawals for Rybakina but she still managed to reach the finals of Doha and Miami as well as the Wimbledon semifinals, while picking up three titles at the 500 and 250 level.

With her big serve and powerful groundstrokes, she is someone nobody wants to face because if she is healthy... good luck.

5. Qinwen Zheng

Actual Ranking: 5
2024 Record: 50-18
Best Australian Open Result: Runner-up (2024)

Qinwen Zheng returns to where it all began. 2024 was a breakthrough season for the young Chinese, who kicked things off by reaching the Australian Open final and went on to reach the finals of both the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan and the WTA Finals while claiming the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. She finished with a career-best 50 match wins and a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world.

Now comes the harder part: improving on those results.

The good news is Zheng should be confident returning to the site of her breakthrough in Melbourne after finishing the season strong at the WTA Finals.

6. Jessica Pegula

Actual Ranking: 7
2024 Record: 41-17
Best Australian Open Result: Quarter-final (Three times)

Jessica Pegula finally broke through at a major in 2024, reaching the US Open final after losing her first six quarter-finals at Grand Slam events.

Read also: Catching Up With the Toronto Champion - How the Rest of 2024 Went for Jessica Pegula

Three of those losses were in Melbourne, which on the bright side are her most quarter-finals at any major.

The American struggled in the first half of last season but picked things up in the summer, where she reached all three big finals and defended her title in Canada at the National Bank Open. If she’s healthy, she will be looking for even more at the Australian Open.

7. Jasmine Paolini

Actual Ranking: 4
2024 Record: 39-21
Best Australian Open Result: Fourth round (2024)

It felt like Jasmine Paolini came out of nowhere last season. Starting the year on the edge of the Top 30, she made an early statement by winning the WTA 1000 title in Dubai, just her second career title and by far the biggest, and then backed it up by reaching consecutive Grand Slam finals at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.

Read also: WTA Flower of the Year - Jasmine Paolini

Paolini also finished the year with a bang, helping Italy claim the Billie Jean King Cup title. The Italian proved in 2024 that she can play with the best and that under no circumstances should she be underestimated, especially in big tournaments.

8. Karolina Muchova

Actual Ranking: 21
2024 Record: 21-7
Best Australian Open Result: Semifinal (2021)

Karolina Muchova only started her season in June last year and it took some time for her to get going. But once the former Roland-Garros runner-up hit her stride, she was mighty impressive.

The Czech reached the semifinals or better at her last three tournaments of 2024, including the US Open and the final of the WTA 1000 in Beijing. Players she beat during those events include Paolini, Sabalenka, and Zheng. She also scored another win over Paolini at the United Cup earlier this month.

If Muchova is still just working her way back from injury, watch out.

9. Mirra Andreeva

Actual Ranking: 15
2024 Record: 34-16
Best Australian Open Result: Fourth Round (2024)

At just 17 years old, Mirra Andreeva is already firmly entrenched in the Top 20 of the WTA rankings with plenty of room to grow. Last year, she reached the semifinals of a major for the first time at Roland-Garros, beating Sabalenka in the process, and got to the quarter-finals of three WTA 1000 events.

Read also: This Week in Tennis - Road to the Australian Open

The youngster kicked off her 2025 season with a semifinal run in Brisbane, losing to the world No. 1 in the final four, and now heads to Melbourne for just the second time. She reached the last sixteen in her debut last year. The sky really feels like the limit for the teen phenom.

10. Paula Badosa

Actual Ranking: 12
2024 Record: 37-19
Best Australian Open Result: Fourth round

Injuries plagued Badosa in 2023 and it took her some time in 2024 to start finding her form. But over the summer, the former world No. 2 started to look like her old self again.

She won her first title in over two years in Washington and backed it up by reaching the semifinals of Cincinnati and the quarter-finals of the US Open. Overall, she reached the quarter-finals or better at five of her last six tournaments of the year, including back-to-back semifinals to finish off 2024.

While she lost a three-setter in her season opener in Brisbane, Badosa will be looking to continue to build on the momentum she finished 2024 with.

The National Bank Open Power Rankings are a group collaboration by the Power Rankings Panel which includes:

Pete Borkowski – Manager of Editorial and Player Coverage, Tennis Canada
Melissa Boyd – Content Writer, Tennis Canada
Sarah-Jade Champagne – Content Specialist, Tennis Canada
Jonathan Chan - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
Edward Lee – Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
Hugues Leger – Producer, Podcast Sur La Ligne
Charlotte Robillard-Millette – Communications Coordinator, Tennis Canada
Abraham Santerre – Content Creator, Podcast Sur La Ligne
Patrick Steski - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada

2025 Australian Open Predictions

Champion:

Pete: Aryna Sabalenka
Mel: Coco Gauff
Abraham: Iga Swiatek
Eddie: Aryna Sabalenka
Jonathan: Aryna Sabalenka
Pat: Coco Gauff
Sarah-Jade: Aryna Sabalenka
Charlotte: Aryna Sabalenka
Hugues: Aryna Sabalenka

Dark Horse:

Mel: Ons Jabeur
Abraham: Clara Tauson
Eddie: Leylah Annie Fernandez
Pat: Maria Sakkari
Sarah-Jade: Diana Shnaider
Charlotte: Katie Boulter

Bold Prediction:

Pete: There will be at least a seven-year age gap between the finalists
Mel: Ons Jabeur will reach her first Australian Open quarter-final since 2020.
Abraham: Paula Badosa will back up her US Open quarter-final last year, repeating the feat at the Australian Open.
Eddie: Rybakina will be upset in the second round.
Jonathan: Andreeva reaches the semis (beating Sabalenka in the quarter-final)
Pat: Coco Gauff wins both the singles AND doubles titles.
Sarah-Jade: Aryna Sabalenka becomes the first woman since Martina Hingis in the late '90s to three-peat at the Australian Open.
Charlotte: Mirra Andreeva reaches the semis.

The WTA's best return to Montreal this summer for the National Bank Open July 26 to Aug. 7, 2025 at IGA Stadium. 2025 Tickets are on sale. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak

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