Monica Seles was victorious on the women’s side of the Australian Open. It followed a similar pattern to the men’s side with upsets galore. Seles, seeded sixth, beat #9 Kim Clijsters in the final. The other two semifinalists were seeded in the 20s.
- First Round: Favorites won only a little over half of the first-round contests (nine of 16). An entire quadrant of favorites was wiped out, which included #4 Chris Evert and #5 Margaret Court. A player seeded in the 20s will make the semifinals as a result. #7 Billie Jean King was the only other top-10 seed to be ousted.
- Round of 16: A couple more shockers wiped the favorites out of another quadrant, as #2 Serena Williams and #10 Martina Hingis went down. Only four top-10 seeds have advanced to the quarterfinals.
- Quarterfinals: The upsets kept coming, as #1 Steffi Graf and #3 Martina Navratilova went out. The highest remaining player was #6 Monica Seles. #9 faces #29 and #6 faces #26 in the semifinals.
- Semifinals: The favorites finally came through, as #9 Kim Clijsters won in straight sets for the fourth straight match, and #6 Monica Seles overcame a first-set loss and a 5-4 deficit in the third set to rally for the win. Kudos to #26 Caroline Wozniacki, who beat #7, #10 and #15 before her narrow loss to Seles. And, to #29 Naomi Osaka, who didn’t win any matches in the three mini-tournaments before winning three times here.
- Final: Seles won the first set, the first time all tournament that Clijsters was on the losing end of a set. Seles served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Clijsters rallied to win 7-6 and even the match. But Seles regrouped and went up 5-2 before prevailing 6-3 to take home the crown.
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By virtue of her runner-up finish here, along with one tournament win and one other second-place result, Kim Clijsters has moved into #1 in the rankings. Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova are tied for second, not far behind. Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis round out the top five.
First Round:
(1) Steffi Graf defeated (32) Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 7-5
(16) Tracy Austin defeated (17) Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-2
(9) Kim Clijsters defeated (24) Simona Halep 7-5, 7-5
(8) Justine Henin defeated (25) Amelie Mauresmo 1-6, 6-0, 6-2
(29) Naomi Osaka defeated (4) Chris Evert 7-6, 6-1
(20) Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario defeated (13) Maria Sharapova 3-6, 7-6, 7-6
(21) Hana Mandlikova defeated (12) Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 0-6, 7-5
(28) Victoria Azarenka defeated (5) Margaret Court 6-4, 0-6, 6-0
(2) Serena Williams defeated (31) Petra Kvitova 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
(15) Gabriela Sabatini defeated (18) Ash Barty 6-7, 7-5, 6-4
(10) Martina Hingis defeated (23) Jana Novotna 6-4, 6-2
(26) Caroline Wozniacki defeated (7) Billie Jean King 6-3, 6-3
(3) Martina Navratilova defeated (30) Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-3
(19) Jennifer Capriati defeated (14) Evonne Goolagong 6-4, 6-7, 7-5
(22) Virginia Wade defeated (11) Venus Williams 7-5, 6-7, 6-4
(6) Monica Seles defeated (27) Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-4
Round of 16:
(1) Steffi Graf defeated (16) Tracy Austin 6-4, 7-5
(9) Kim Clijsters defeated (8) Justine Henin 7-5, 6-4
(29) Naomi Osaka defeated (20) Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-4, 7-6
(21) Hana Mandlikova defeated (28) Victoria Azarenka 6-3, ret.
(15) Gabriela Sabatini defeated (2) Serena Williams 7-5, 7-5
(26) Caroline Wozniacki defeated (10) Martina Hingis 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
(3) Martina Navratilova defeated (19) Jennifer Capriati 7-5, 6-4
(6) Monica Seles defeated (22) Virginia Wade 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
Quarterfinals:
(9) Kim Clijsters defeated (1) Steffi Graf 7-5, 6-3
(29) Naomi Osaka defeated (21) Hana Mandlikova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
(26) Caroline Wozniacki defeated (15) Gabriela Sabatini 5-7, 6-4, 7-6
(6) Monica Seles defeated (3) Martina Navratilova 7-6, 5-7, 7-6
Semifinals:
(9) Kim Clijsters defeated (29) Naomi Osaka 6-4, 7-5
(6) Monica Seles defeated (26) Caroline Wozniacki 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
Final:
(6) Monica Seles defeated (9) Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-7, 6-3
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