Top 5 Australian Open champions in the Open Era

#1 Serena Williams

Serena Williams at the 2017 Australian Open - Day 13

Serena Williams has been an unstoppable force in the women's circuit since a long, long time. With 23 glorious Grand Slams in her name, Serena's contribution and achievements in the sport are one too many, and she occupies a large section of the records book.

Serena is the only player in the Open Era to have won the year-opening Slam a record 7 times in her career.

It all started in 2003 when a young Serena locked horns against her big sister Venus Williams in the finals, only to overpower her and win her first Australian Open title. In 2005, Serena went up against former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the final, in a match that saw her lay claim to her second Melbourne crown.

2007 proved to be a good start to the year too when an unseeded Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in the final to win a third title here. In 2009, she was faced with former World No. 1 Dinara Safina who she dusted off in under an hour to win her fourth Australian Open.

In 2010, Williams defended her title with conviction when she won against Justin Henin and took home her fifth Australian Open trophy. Serena's 19th Grand Slam win coincided with her sixth title win in Australia when she gave Maria Sharapova a hard time and won the final in straight sets.

2017 was perhaps the most special victory of all for Serena. The powerhouse player went up against her sister Venus in another mouth-watering clash and claimed the 7th title without even dropping a set in the tournament. The special factor was the fact that Williams was a little over eight weeks pregnant when she played in Australia!

The grit and strength as well as passion of Williams make her a joy to watch on the court, and we know she will give it her all to win for an eighth time in Melbourne this year.