The 2024 season ended with a bang, with top players across the globe battling for national glory at the Billie Jean King Cup. In the end, it was Italy who won the title there. Even before the start of the next season, the tennis world’s eyes have shifted to the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament next year. Ahead of the tournament, former Australian pro, Casey Dellacqua, opened up about the chances of players like Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Navarro, and Jessica Pegula.

Earlier this season, Sabalenka won her second Australian Open title, defeating Qinwen Zheng in the summit clash. Additionally, she also went on to win the US Open and achieve the year-ending World Number 1 rank in the WTA rankings chart. As a result, the Belarusian star would be the hot favorite to defend her title Down Under. However, Dellacqua feels that the time has come for American stars like Pegula and Navarro to shine in Melbourne.

During the AO Show Podcast, she revealed, “I think for the fans in Brisbane to see the World Number 1 Sabalenka hit off after her reign is pretty special. She’s in great form and finished the year strong and she is certainly the one that will come firing in January… I think it is stacked, players like Pegula and Navarro, those types of players are really going to challenge the draw.”

In the 2024 edition of the Australian Open, Coco Gauff was the lone American player to have made it to the last eight in women’s singles. While Pegula lost in the second round, Navarro bowed out of the tournament in the third round. As a result, the two would look to make amends when they step onto the courts in Melbourne next year.

However, it won’t be an easy task for the likes of Pegula and Navarro against a rampant Sabalenka, who is in hot form. Last month, she made a candid statement which depicts that she will enter the Australian Open as a hot favorite.

Aryna Sabalenka wants to replicate Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek

For Sabalenka, it is just the start of a dominant period. She is looking to continue the winning momentum and take cues from the likes of Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek. The legendary duo also dominated women’s tennis during their peaks and gave hardly anything away to their opponents. As a result, Sabalenka made a candid confession on continuing her winning run.

During an interview, she said, “I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena [Williams] did, like Iga [Swiatek] was able to do for so long. It’s really inspiring and of course I want to dominate the tour like they did. But I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”

Meanwhile, Sabalenka will headline the playing field at the 2025 Brisbane International, a warmup tournament for the Australian Open. She will be joined by the likes of Pegula and Navarro and the trio would be the ones to watch out for Down Under.