- Top Seeds: Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Aryna Sabalenka
- Inaugural Edition
- British interest: Johanna Konta [5], Katie Boulter
- CLICK our featured players for stats from TennisAbstract
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – The tour returns with Simona Halep leading a strong field in the newly created WTA Gippsland Trophy as a lead-up event to the Australian Open.
[table “ADPDAll” not found /]
Tournament Fast Facts
| Level | WTA 500 |
| Surface | Hard (O) |
| Singles Draw | 64 |
| Doubles Draw | 32 |
| Prize Money | $447,620 |
| Tournament Website | |
| Top seeds | [1] Simona Halep
[2] Naomi Osaka [3] Elina Svitolina [4] Aryna Sabalenka [5] Johanna Konta [6] Iga Swiatek [7] Elise Mertens [8] Karolina Muchova |
| Top Half | [1] Simona Halep
[6] Iga Swiatek [4] Aryna Sabalenka [8] Karolina Muchova |
| Bottom Half | [7] Elise Mertens
[3] Elina Svitolina [5] Johanna Konta [2] Naomi Osaka |
WTA Gippsland Trophy Open Draw & Results
| Tournament Website |
| Order of Play CS, CD |
| Singles |
| Doubles |
[1] Simona Halep
The World No. 2 opted to head to Adelaide to quarantine, and train and faced off in the one-day exhibition there against World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.
Laura Siegemund on paper could be a challenge but all of their encounters previously have been on clay, and more importantly Halep will at least have gotten some match practice in even if it is just an exhibition.
Halep’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Anastasia Potapova | H2H: First Meeting
- R3: Laura Siegemund [16] | H2H: Siegemund leads 2-1
- QF: Iga Swiatek [6] | H2H: Tied at 1-1
- SF: Aryna Sabalenka [4] | H2H: Halep leads 3-1
- F: Naomi Osaka [2] | H2H: Halep leads 4-1
[2] Naomi Osaka
Also fresh from the Adelaide exhibition, Osaka seemed to enjoy her outing against Serena Williams, who edged her in the exhibition match, but not worth putting a huge amount of store in that performance.
Her serve could do with sharpening up on first glance, but in tour conditions, expect to see a more focussed Osaka.
Osaka’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Alizé Cornet | H2H: First Meeting
- R3: Cori Gauff [14] | H2H: Tied at 1-1
- QF: Johanna Konta [5] | H2H: Konta leads 4-1 (incl. Billie Jean King Cup)
- SF: Elina Svitolina [3] | H2H: Tied at 3-3
- F: Simona Halep [1] | H2H: Halep leads 4-1
 |
[3] Elina Svitolina
Svitolina also has a tricky start potentially with a first-time meeting and a losing record against a seeded Jelena Ostapenko.
Svitolina spent a lot of time practicing with Iga Swiatek during the quarantine practice and is still in search of an elusive first Slam title.
Svitolina’s Path to the final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Martina Trevisan | H2H: First Meeting
- R3: Jelena Ostapenko [13] | H2H: Ostapenko leads 2-1
- QF: Elise Mertens [7] | H2H: Svitolina leads 3-1
- SF: Naomi Osaka [2] | H2H: Tied at 3-3
- F: Simona Halep [1] | H2H: Tied at 5-5
[4] Aryna Sabalenka
Perhaps the real question is can Sabalenka keep her amazing unbeaten run going – she comes in with 15 wins on the bounce, and could well add to that before she meets more formidable opponents, on paper at least.
Sabalenka’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Kaia Kanepi | H2H: First Meeting
- R3: Polona Hercog [15] | H2H: Sabalenka leads 2-1
- QF: Karolina Muchova [8] | H2H: Sabalenka leads 1-0
- SF: Simona Halep [1] | H2H: Halep leads 3-1
- F: Naomi Osaka [2] H2H: Osaka leads 1-0
The WTA Gippsland Trophy takes place between 31 January – 6 February (GMT +11 hours)
How to Watch/Follow the WTA Tour
| Live Stream | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
| Live Scores | Tennis Live Scores on Britwatch Sports |
| Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
|---|---|
| Soundcloud | |
| YouTube | |
| We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website | |