Australian Open 2024 women's singles seeds: Iga Swiatek at the top for second straight year in Melbourne, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina follow

The Australian Open is almost upon us. The main draw action at the first Major tournament of the year is all set to begin on Sunday, January 14. The list of the top 32 seeds in women's singles has been released.

Iga Swiatek, a four-time Major winner, has been seeded first for the second straight year at the Australian Open. More importantly, the World No. 1 has now received top billing for the eighth consecutive time since 2022 Roland Garros. She is in great form at the moment, having won all five of her singles fixtures at last week's United Cup.

The Pole will be eager to win her first title in Melbourne, already having enjoyed Major triumphs in Paris and New York. She is joined by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka as the second seed. The Belarusian won her maiden Major title at the Happy Slam last year, and also rose to the World No. 1 position for a brief period of time.

Elena Rybakina, who finished as the runner-up at last year's Australian Open final, is seeded third. The Kazakh broke inside the WTA's top 3 last year and arrives in Melbourne as one of the favourites for the title. She also won a tune-up event in Brisbane last week, downing Sabalenka in straight sets in the final.

Coco Gauff, meanwhile, will be looking to follow up on her 2023 US Open triumph during the next fortnight Down Under. The 19-year-old has also enjoyed a good lead-up to the Happy Slam, having dropped just one set en route to the ASB Classic title.

Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Marketa Vondrousova and Maria Sakkari round out the top eight seeds in the women's singles draw. While they will all be difficult to beat for the top four seeds, none of them have the experience of going deep in Melbourne.

Former Major titlists Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejčíková among top 32 seeds at Australian Open 2024

Victoria Azarenka poses with the 2013 Australian Open trophy

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka will be one of the dark horses at the Happy Slam. Seeded 18th, the Belarusian can breathe a sigh of relief as she will not meet a top eight seed until the fourth round.

2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, meanwhile, is seeded 11th at the Australian Open. The Latvian enjoyed a career-best quarterfinals run in Melbourne last year. The top seeds will likely want to avoid her in the draw due to her inclination towards causing upsets.

Former World No. 2 Barbora Krejčíková is also one of the outside favourites to win the title in Melbourne. The Czech suffered an elbow surgery in 2022, which almost derailed her career at the top. However, she showed immense resilience to launch a comeback in 2023 and bring her ranking inside the top 10 again.

Other seeded players that have enjoyed considerable success at the Majors include Elina Svitolina (19), Elise Mertens (25) and Leylah Fernandez (32).