Champion mums add depth to Melbourne Park women's field

SYDNEY : One of Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff look most likely to add to their Grand Slam collection at this year's Australian Open but a clutch of returning champion mums spearheaded by Naomi Osaka could make things interesting.

Last year, Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin were the only former women's champions in the draw at Melbourne Park but there will be six when the 2024 tournament kicks off on Sunday as Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki all return.

The returning trio and Azarenka will be accompanied by their children as they look to match the feat achieved by Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1977 and Kim Clijsters in 2011 by holding aloft the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup as mothers.

Although Wozniacki and Kerber have looked competitive since their respective returns, Osaka appears the most likely to be challenging at the business end of the year's first Grand Slam despite more than a year on the sidelines.

Osaka is the youngest of the returning champions and the 26-year-old showed at the Brisbane International she still has the weapons that earned her the 2019 and 2021 Melbourne titles.

More importantly, perhaps, she looked happy to be back in the game, even in defeat, and determined to build on a career which has already earned her four Grand Slam titles.

The bookmakers clearly feel it is too early for Osaka, though, and strongly favour the players who have made a case to be considered a new "Big Four" of women's tennis since Serena Williams and Ash Barty retired in 2022.

The sixth former champion in the draw is last year's winner Sabalenka, who claimed her first major prize by beating Rybakina in the final on Rod Laver Arena.

The Belarusian reached at least the semi-finals at all