The prestigious Indian Wells 2022 is all set to begin its campaign. Several seeded and unseeded players are ready to fight for the honourable crown. However, only one can emerge as a winner. With World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and World No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova withdrawing from the tournament, it makes it easier for several players to take one step ahead and take the trophy home.

Therefore, here is a list of 5 players who are predicted to win the title.

#5. Anett Kontaveit

Anett Kontaveit has blossomed into a fantastic player since conquering the Cleveland Open in August 2021. She went on to win three more championships and reach the WTA Finals' ultimate clash.
Kontaveit had a strong start to her 2022 season, reaching the semifinals in Sydney. However, she enraged her fans when she let go of the Australian Open 2022 trophy from her hands after losing in the second round against Clara Tauson.

Aside from her loss at the Australian Open, Kontaveit has advanced to the finals of every tournament she has entered in the last few months. During this period, she has won five titles and finished as a runner-up twice. Given these factors, she is a strong contender for the Indian Wells championship in 2022.

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#4. Maria Sakkari

Maria Sakkari has taken her career to the next level over the last year, yet she has come up short on a few occasions. At the 2021 French Open, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal, losing to Barbora Krejcikova despite having a match point. Sakkari subsequently went on to lose in the US Open semifinals and the WTA Finals. Her 2022 campaign was also not particularly successful, as she was eliminated in the second round of the Adelaide International. She then went on to lose the Australian Open in 2022, as well as the St. Petersburg and Qatar Opens.

You might be wondering why we included her on the list despite her poor performance during the year. Let us tell you something: Sakkari has a habit of faltering in the final stages of competitions. But, if she overcomes that obstacle, she will be able to take the trophy.

#3. Aryna Sabalenka

The World no. 3 Belarusian have been impressing fans for quite a long time. She began her 2022 season by making it to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open. Her duel against Kaia Kanepi of Estonia still sends shivers down people's spines. However, after three sets of thrilling contests, Sabalneka's journey was cut short.

Afterwards, she was dethroned by Iga Swiatek in the Quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. However, besides these all, Sabalenka has won one WTA 1000 title in each of the last four seasons: 2018 Wuhan, 2019 Wuhan, 2020 Doha, 2021 Madrid. Considering these, we can safely say that she is a strong contender for the trophy. Even if she doesn't win the championship, she could prove to be a formidable obstacle in the way of some of the top Seeds.

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#2. Jelena Ostapenko

Jelena Ostapenko had a rough start to the year, losing in the first round of the Sydney Tennis Classic to Paula Badosa. Afterwards, Barbora Krejcikova eliminated her in the third round of the Australian Open. Despite these, Ostapenko is on fire heading into this tournament. The Latvian has been to the semifinals of each of her previous three tournaments, and she just won the Dubai Tennis Championships. The 24-year-old defeated Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek, Petra Kvitova, and Simona Halep on her way to the title. That simply demonstrates how amazing Ostapenko's A-game is, and at these odds, it's difficult to dismiss her. When she's fully focused in the field, her strength can be unstoppable.

#1. Iga Swiatek

The French Open is notable for producing a variety of winners throughout different seasons. Nobody has been able to consistently win the tournament, except for one man Of course! Even so, passionate tennis fans were taken aback when they witnessed a 19-year-old defeat 1-time grand slam champion Sofia Kenin to win the trophy and take it home. With the poise of a veteran and the shots of a champion, 19-year-old Iga Swiatek inscribed her name in tennis fans' hearts.

She has maintained a high level of consistency in her performance since then, which is uncommon nowadays. Afterwards, from reaching the Semifinals of Adelaide international and the Australian Open 2022 to establishing her dominance over the Qatar Open, Swiatek has been in tremendous form. Also, with the top seeds Ash Barty and Barbora Krejcikova withdrawing from the tournament, she has an edge over everyone else to claim the trophy.

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WTA World No. 2 Iga Swiatek has not won any titles since last year's French Open, despite having an overall strong season. Even worse, a Polish news outlet recently reported that Swiatek was considering skipping Wimbledon 2025 to prepare for the US Open in August.

Also Read: Australian Open Winners list (Women)

Swiatek strongly refused those reports during her Media Day press conference at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The five-time Grand Slam champion said, "Shouldn't believe this stuff." She added, “During past few days I saw million comments that were not true.”

'I'm not going to skip Wimbledon'

Swiatek further explained, "I don't get it. There are so many theories right now, I would say, especially in Polish media, about me that are not true. I think, I don't' know, you guys like to make some articles that will attract people. I get it. It's part of the job.

"But yeah, for sure, I'm not going to skip Wimbledon. I really want to learn how to play on grass better. Every year is another opportunity. I will play Wimbledon, for sure, unless I get injured."

'love-and-hate relationship with my perfectionism'

A former junior Wimbledon champion, the 23-year-old has posted her least dominant results on grass in the years since winning her first major title at 2020 Roland Garros. Relatively subpar results on hard courts and clay have been more surprising, leading Swiatek to consider her own perfectionism as a source of this recent late-stage inconsistency.

“I have [a] love-and-hate relationship with my perfectionism. The thing is that I only remember the good stuff from last years because I was winning titles and everything. My head kind of remembers the good stuff.” said Swiatek.

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Wimbledon 2025 to begin in June

Swiatek is currently the WTA World No. 2 with a record of 26-8 on the season with zero titles. The Polish superstar's campaign at the Italian Open starts on Thursday, May 8. Fans can mark their calendars for the French Open, which will start on May 25, and Wimbledon 2025, which will begin June 30.

The Australian Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis and is held annually in Melbourne, Australia.

The women's tournament has seen a number of talented players win the title in recent years.

Also Read: Australian Open Winners list (Men)

The Australian Open winners list (Women) are given below.

Players who won the tournament multiple times

Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Naomi Osaka are some of the players who have won the Australian Open multiple times. 

Serena Williams, meanwhile, cemented her position as the most successful women’s player of all-time at the event, with seven titles.

In 2021, Naomi Osaka became the first player from Japan to win the Australian Open. She defeated American Jennifer Brady in the final. 

Naomi Osaka also won the tournament in 2019, becoming the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title. 

Sofia Kenin, who hails from the United States, won the 2020 tournament, beating Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza in the final. 

Kenin, who was just 21 years old at the time, became the youngest player to win the Australian Open since Maria Sharapova in 2008.

In 2018, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki won her first Grand Slam title, defeating Romania's Simona Halep in the final. 

Wozniacki had previously been the runner-up at the tournament in 2011 and 2014. 

Serena Williams, who is widely considered one of the greatest female players of all time, won the Australian Open in 2017 and 2015. 

She defeated her sister Venus Williams in 2017 final and defeated Maria Sharapova in the 2015 final.

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Madison Keys won Australian Open 2025 title

Meanwhile, Madison Keys of America won her first-ever Grand Slam title by becoming the champion in the women's singles event of the Australian Open 2025. 

In the title match, Keys defeated two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. 

Keys is the second-oldest woman to claim her first Australian Open singles title in the Open era after China’s Li Na, who was 31 when she triumphed at Melbourne Park in 2014.

Here is the full list.

Australian Open Winners list (Women)

The full list of entrants for the Paris Olympics 2024 Tennis Event has been confirmed on Thursday at Wimbledon by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), organizer of the event on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

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The Paris Olympics 2024 will be held on clay at the Roland Garros Stadium over nine days, from 27 July to 4 August. It will be played on 12 competition courts, with six more for training. The Philippe-Chatrier stadium, which can seat 15,000, and the Suzanne-Lenglen stadium, which can hold 9,000, will be the main courts and both have retractable roofs.

Lebanon makes its Olympic debut

A total of 41 nations will be represented, with 184 players competing in five events (men's and women's singles, doubles, and mixed doubles). Lebanon will make its debut in the competition. Sixty-four players will compete in both singles events, while 32 teams will contest both doubles events. Entries for the 16-team mixed doubles event will be determined on July 24.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray lead the list

The men's and women's singles rosters feature top players such as world No. 1 players Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina. The lists also include other former Olympic champions such as Rafa Nadal, a singles and doubles gold medalist, as well as two-time singles gold medalist Andy Murray and Beijing 2008 doubles gold medalist Stan Wawrinka. 

There is a limit of four singles players per gender and country. Nations have also been able to nominate up to two doubles teams per event, with a maximum of six players per gender per country in total.

Under the ITF Ranking System, all players must be in good standing with their national federation and have met the eligibility requirements for the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. Any player who did not meet this criteria could have had his or her national federation apply for an exemption from the ITF Olympic Committee. The ATP and WTA rankings as of June 10 were used for entry.

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For men's and women's doubles, the top 24 teams were selected on a combined singles or doubles ranking, with the top 10 doubles players eligible to enter directly with any partner with a Top 300 ranking. In accordance with IOC player quota regulations, for the remaining eight teams priority was given to teams that included two singles players, followed by teams that included one singles player.

Entries for the mixed doubles event, which will feature 16 teams, will be determined on-site from players already competing in singles or doubles, with a maximum of one team per country. Registration closes at 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Wednesday 24 July and the ITF will announce the entry list shortly afterward.

Check out the full entry list of Paris Olympics 2024 here

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur have withdrawn from the Paris Olympics 2024. Both these players do not want to play on clay courts immediately after Wimbledon to be held on grass courts. 

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'I prefer to have a little rest'

Sabalenka said she made the decision for health reasons and because she wants to conserve strength for the summer hard court season. “It’s too much for the scheduling and I made the decision to take care of my health,”

“I prefer to have a little rest to make sure physically and health-wise I’m ready for the hard courts. I’ll have a good preparation before going to the hard-court season. I feel that this is safer and better for my body.” Sabalenka added.

'I must listen to my body'

World No. 10 Jabeur from Tunisia wrote on social media that not being able to play at a fourth consecutive Olympics was unfortunate. “We (and my medical team) have decided that the quick change of surface and the body’s adaptation required would put my knee at risk and jeopardize the rest of my season,” Jabeur wrote.

“I have always loved representing my country in any competition, However, I must listen to my body and follow my medical team’s advise.” Jabeur competed at the last three Olympics without winning a match.

Also Read: Rohan Bopanna qualifies for Paris Olympics 2024

This will be the first Olympic tournament on red courts since 1992

The Paris Olympics 2024 in the French capital will be played from July 27 to August 4 at the Roland Garros complex and will be the first Olympic tournament on red courts since Barcelona 1992. This will make it even more difficult for tennis players, as the Paris Olympics 2024 come immediately after the grass season and before the competitions on hard courts in North America, which included two consecutive UTA 1000 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati, followed by the US Open in New York, where Azarenka reached the final last season.

World No. 1 Iga Siwatek defeated Jasmine Paolini by 6-2, 6-1 in the Roland Garros final to win her fourth French Open and fifth Grand Slams title. The Polish tennis star took just 68 minutes to win the final and keep her 100% record intact in the Grand Slam finals.

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With this win, Iga Swiatek became the third Women's tennis player in the open era to win the Roland Garros in three consecutive years. Before her only Monica Seles in 1990-92 and Justine Henin in 2005-07 were able to accomplish the ‘three-peat' in Roland-Garros. 

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Iga now extended her Roland-Garros win streak to 21 matches. It was in 2021 when she lost a match at Roland Garros in the quarter-finals against Maria Sakkari.

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The No. 1 WTA tennis player took just 34 minutes to win the first set and another 34 minutes to win the second. Although in the first three games of the first set, Jasmine Paolini tried her best to make a match in the final, Iga powered through five games in a row to claim the first set. 

The Italian was not able to put up any resistance against Iga as the Polish star won the second set very easily.