Australian Open 2022 women's singles winner odds: Ashleigh Barty is the clear favorite, followed by Naomi Osaka

Ashleigh Barty has emerged as the overwhelming favorite to win the 2022 Australian Open, followed by defending champion Naomi Osaka and 2021 WTA Tour Finals winner Garbine Muguruza.

According to online betting website bet365, the Australian has 3/1 odds of being crowned the winner of the women's singles at the Australian Open while Osaka's odds are more than twice that at 13/2. This means that a $2 bet on Barty winning the tournament will return a profit of $6, while the same bet on the Japanese is going to fetch a profit of $13.

World No. 3 Muguruza has odds of 11/1 to win the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and 2020 Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek has slightly longer odds of 12/1. Meanwhile, teenage sensation Emma Raducanu has 40/1 odds of winning the Australian Open.

Online betting website William Hill follows the same order as well, but with slightly different odds. The World No. 1 is once again the favorite with odds of 11/4 while Osaka's odds are at 6/1. Swiatek and Muguruza have the same odds of 12/1 and Raducanu has improved odds of 33/1.

Former World No. 1 Simona Halep is in fifth position on both websites (14/1 odds in bet365 and 12/1 odds in William Hill), while another former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has 33/1 odds of winning according to both websites.

Ashleigh Barty kicks off her Australian Open campaign against Lesia Tsurenko

Ashliegh Barty squares off against Lesia Tsurenko in the first round of the Australian Open

Ashleigh Barty's quest to win a Grand Slam in front of her home crowd begins against qualifier Lesia Tsurenko in the first round. The Australian is scheduled to play at the Rod Laver Arena in the first night session slot on Day 1 (17 January) of the tournament.

Barty leads their head-to-head 2-1. The match-up is not expected to be a cake-walk for the World No. 1, but she should progress to the second round without too much trouble. Her biggest match could be in the fourth round, where the Wimbledon champion is on a collision course with World No. 13 Naomi Osaka.

Ashleigh Barty's impressive start to the 2022 season has firmly established her as the one to beat at the Australian Open. The Australian won both singles and doubles titles at the Adelaide International 1, partnering with compatriot Storm Sanders in the doubles category.

Her run to the singles title included dominant victories against World No. 13 Sofia Kenin in the quarterfinals and Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. The performance will have given the 25-year-old enough confidence to win her third Grand Slam, thereby improving on her quarterfinal result at the 2021 Australian Open.