Aryna Sabalenka will once again be the top seed for the Australian Open while defending champion Madison Keys just makes the top 10 following her quarter-final exit from the Brisbane International.
World No 1 and two-time Melbourne champion Sabalenka was always assured of being the first name on the draw sheet for the season-opening Grand Slam as she has a lead of more than 2,000 points over Iga Swiatek in the WTA Rankings.
Six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek will headline the bottom half of the draw as she, in turn, is nearly 2,000 points ahead of Coco Gauff in the Live Rankings.
Reigning French Open champion Gauff has now been confirmed as the third seed for the Australian Open following Amanda Anisimova’s third-round loss in Brisbane while Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula will be the next two names on the sheet.
Although Pegula is still in action in Brisbane, she is unable to move up from No 6 ahead of the January 12 cutoff date for the seedings.
In fact, only a couple of places in the top 10 are still to be decided with Mirra Andreeva, currently at No 8, in with a chance of moving up one spot to No 7 while world No 11 Belinda Bencic – currently competing at the United Cup could still pip Ekaterina Alexandrova to 10th place.
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2025 Newcomer of the Year Victoria Mboko is set to be seeded 17th, one place behind four-time Grand Slam winner and former world No 1 Naomi Osaka – the player she beat in the Canadian Open final last August.
Mboko, though, can still drop a place as Karolina Muchova, currently at No 19, will move up a few spots if she reaches the final in Brisbane while No 20 Elise Mertens is also still alive at the United Cup.
The Australian Open has already hit by the withdrawal of two players who were set to be seeded as 2024 runner-up Zheng Qinwen – who was set to be seeded 25th – is out with an elbow injury while No 31 Veronika Kudermetova is also out.
That means those below them will all earn a bump with Emma Raducanu one of the beneficiaries as the British No 1 is set to be seeded 28th instead of 29th.
But Raducanu could drop back to 29th as Iva Jovic (No 30) will move ahead of her if the young American wins her semi-final match at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Of course, there could still be more withdrawals from seeded players that will give those just outside the cutoff a chance to move up.
Current Top 32 Based on Live Rankings
1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek
3. Coco Gauff
4. Amanda Anisimova
5. Elena Rybakina
6. Jessica Pegula
7. Jasmine Paolini
8. Mirra Andreeva
9. Madison Keys
10. Ekaterina Alexandrova
11. Belinda Bencic
12. Elina Svitolina
13. Linda Noskova
14. Clara Tauson
15. Emma Navarro
16. Naomi Osaka
17. Victoria Mboko
18. Ludmilla Samsonova
19. Karolina Muchova
20. Elise Mertens
21. Leylah Fernandez
22. Diana Shnaider
23. Jeļena Ostapenko
24. Paula Badosa
25. Marta Kostyuk
26. Dayana Yastremska
27. Sofia Kenin
28. Emma Raducanu
29. Iva Jovic
30. Maya Joint
31. Anna Kalinskaya
32. Marketa Vondrousova
Next Five
33. Lois Boisson
34. Mccartney Kessler
35. Jaqueline Cristian
36. Ann Li
37. Eva Lys
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The post Aus Open projected women’s seeds: Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff top 3, Osaka, Mboko, Raducanu make cut appeared first on Tennis365.
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