Australian Open 2022 LIVE – Top 5 Women Rivalries AO2022 LIVE: Women’s tennis is seeing a sea change. The old guard is making way for the new golden age of Women Tennis who will be in full flow at this year’s 1st Grand Slam Australian Open. Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty, Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu all will be in action at AO2022 – Check the top rivalries that fans can look upto: Follow Australian Open 2022 LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN & AO2022 LIVE Streaming on SONYLIV
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Australian Open 2022 LIVE: Women Tennis ready to start new golden age, check TOP 5 rivalries ready to roll in AO2022
Here are five rivalries or questions that will make Australian Open 2022 very interesting & intriguing for the lovers of Women Tennis.
Will Naomi Osaka make a triuphant comeback? Naomi Osaka won Australian Open in 2019, 2021 – but since than she has been plagued with issues surrounding mental health.
Can she make a triumphant return to AO2022 – place where she loves to play? Her participation and progress in the tournament will be keenly followed & will be the biggest talking point of this year’s Australian Open.
Emma Raducanu v Leylah Fernandez – Will Raducanu play? Raducanu has tested positive. Still she is uncertain to play the AO2022.
If the US Open winner participates, her rivalry with fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez will be keenly followed at AO2022.
Raducanu v Fernandez will forever be intertwined by their magnificent runs at US Open 2021, where they clashed in the unlikeliest of major finals to conclude an unforgettable fortnight.
Britain’s Raducanu, 18, bettered 19-year-old Fernandez but the 6-4 6-3 scoreline was deceptive — this was a high-quality battle spanning almost two hours in a supercharged atmosphere in New York.
Iga Swiatek v Jelena Ostapenko: What better match-up than one between players who won their first ever tour titles at a Grand Slam?
Just two days after turning 20, Jelena Ostapenko overpowered everyone en route to the Roland Garros title in 2017 as an unseeded world No.47. Swiatek then pulled off a near-identical feat; also unseeded and ranked 54th, she did not drop a set in a brilliant fortnight in Paris in 2020, all while aged 19.
Those Roland Garros triumphs have so far defined both players’ careers, and it would be fabulous to see them go head-to-head more often, especially given their contrasting styles.
Ostapenko does her damage with high-risk, flat, fast groundstrokes, and leads the series against Swiatek 2-0, having not dropped a set. Yet the young Pole, with her higher margins, vicious topspin and incredible athleticism, is surely too talented to continue allowing Ostapenko to dominate the match-up.
Ash Barty v Aryna Sabalenka: Barty and Sabalenka have a history of close, compelling matches as well as sharply contrasting personalities and game styles.
They first met in the opening round of AO 2018 played a phenomenal three-setter. Since then they have risen to become the world’s No.1 and No.2 players.
Now they’re meeting in finals, with Barty pipping Sabalenka in three sets in this year’s Stuttgart decider before the Belarusian avenged that defeat with a three-set triumph to win the Madrid trophy. All three of their 2021 meetings have gone the distance.
The head-to-head series is now locked at 4-4, with Barty’s wide repertoire of shots, angles, spins and tactics, plus calm on-court demeanour, an intriguing counterpoint to Sabalenka’s all-out aggression, power and competitive intensity.
Sofia Kenin v Coco Gauff
An added layer to this potential rivalry is the competition for the crown of top US female player — especially compelling given the depth of American women’s tennis and what this could mean for future Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic team selection.
Kenin is currently her nation’s No.1 player, thanks to her victory at Australian Open 2020, a title run which went through Gauff in the fourth round. That memorable match, during which Kenin rebounded from a set down, remains their only meeting.
Gauff, just 17, is already the American No.3 and just outside the top 20 after taking notching impressive milestones in 2021, including her first major quarterfinal at Roland Garros and another trip to Wimbledon’s second week.
Should she and Kenin clash more regularly, fans are in for a treat; the match-up pits Gauff’s fearsome serve against Kenin’s effective return, and sets up scintillating backhand-to-backhand rallies between two of the game’s best movers and most intense competitors.
Follow Australian Open 2022 LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN & AO2022 LIVE Streaming on SONYLIV
Editors pick
