Return of Osaka, Sabalenka’s maiden title defense, and growing confidence of Swiatek and Gauff make the 2024 Australian Open ‘very open’ claims Alex Corretja 

Alex Corretja drops his prediction for the WTA tour in 2024.

Return of Osaka, Sabalenka’s maiden title defense, and growing confidence of Swiatek and Gauff make the 2024 Australian Open ‘very open’ claims Alex Corretja 

Naomi Osaka, Alex Corretja and Iga Swiatek (via Open Source)

2024 is on the horizon as the whole tennis community looks forward to another great season of tennis. The year also brings with it some of the returning players like Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka who aim to make their comeback count and announce their presence to the world.

However, the return of such amazing playing, makes the Australian Open more open with countless possibilities to take place or so believes Alex Corretja.

YouTube video

In a recent video, tennis enthusiasts Alex Corretja, Barbara Schett, and Tim Henman expressed their enthusiasm with the new year approaching with their versions of the result. During the video, Corretja claims this year’s Australian Open will be the most open as former champions are returning as well as current players who are in form. 

FS Video
I am as excited as ever. I think it's going to be the most open in recent years. Coming back, Osaka, she won there twice. And it's so important to see her back on tour healthy and for sure, she's so fired up. And then also Kerber. And of course, the typical ones that they've been playing so well, like Sabalenka when she won there, to see how she handles the situation of defending the championship for the first time.
Said Corretja on Eurosports.

The Spaniard additionally said that with Osaka returning and current players like Coco Gauff, and Iga Swiatek swinging with form, it makes the Slam that much more big and exciting.

He believes that Gauff will head into the tournament with more confidence since she won her maiden Slam at the US Open. 

Let's remember about Coco Gauff winning the US Open. For her, it was a big breakthrough and I'm sure in 2024, she'll be even more experienced, even though she's very young.
Said the Spanish coach

The Spaniard is also looking forward to seeing last year’s champion Aryna Sabalenka in her maiden title defense against champion players.

Alex Corretja drops his predictions for Iga Swiatek to dominate the WTA tour in 2024

In a recent interview with Eurosports, Alex Corretja dropped a few more predictions before the upcoming 2024 Australian Open. He thinks that the previous Australian Open champion will believe that they can do it but also reckons Iga Swiatek to be one of the favorites heading into the tournament.

The Spaniard continues praising the Polish World No. 1 and believes that she will be a clear favorite at a clay court tournament but is still one of the favorites on other courts and expects the Pole to dominate in the year.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Via Firstsportz)
But the fact that Sabalenka already won a Slam, Rybakina as well - those players will be thinking that they can do it again. Maybe on clay [Swiatek] will still be the main favourite, but on other surfaces she will be just one of the favourites.
Corretja added
 But still, I think she's going to be dominating. For her, it was so important to finish the year winning the WTA finals because she gained back her confidence.
He further added

After having a slight turn of events in the second half of 2023, Swiatek made a strong comeback towards the end by winning the WTA Finals and ending the year as World No. 1 for two straight times.

While the WTA Finals winner was criticized for her drip in form, Corretja believed that the Pole needed to get back her number 1 spot to regain her lost confidence. With a league of talented women, only time will tell who prevails on top. 

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