Australian Open - The Favorites for the Crown

Although the organizers of the Australian Open have scheduled the release of the names of the seeded players on the 12th of January, it is safe to say that there are a handful of players in both the men's and women's sides that have been dominating the tennis tournament results with their consistent showing and all around court savvy. And unlike the past when Justin Henin was dominating women's tennis, no one can predict with certainty who shall come out as the clear favorite to win in both divisions at this time of the year. The previous year has been unpredictable in the women's side with no less than four different players winning the major slams. Below is a preview of the contenders for the women's crown.

1. Jelena Jankovic -currently the number one ranked female tennis player of the world. She has stated that her primary goal for this year is to win a major tournament while at the same time maintaining her position at the top. In order to achieve this goal, Jankovic trained during the off season and added bulk to her frame in the hopes of making her body stronger and less prone to injuries. She endured a number of injuries while competing during the 2008 season. It may take her some time to get use to her added body mass as she suffered a straight sets loss to Venus Williams at the JB Group Classic with the latest tennis score of 2-6, 2-6. The tournament serves us a warm up for the female players prior to the Aussie Open.

2. Maria Sharapova-the current title holder of the Australian Open Women's Singles crown. She started 2008 on a high note by beating then world no. 1 Justine Henin , 6-4,6-0 in the women's quarterfinals. She then followed it up by winning the semi-final tennis match against Jelena Jankovic in two sets, 6-3,6-1 and eventually beating Ana Ivanovic in the final, 7-5, 6-3. So impressive was the form she displayed in disposing of Henin that tennis buffs concluded that 2008 might be her break out year for her to rule women's tennis. But a chronic shoulder injury prevented her from achieving such a goal and sidelined her participation in the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. Open. She announced her withdrawal from the tournament recently. Too bad, we wont be seeing her latest in tennis fashion gear! Ranked number nine in the world.

3. Serena Williams-It is quite difficult to choose between the Williams sisters who is the better tennis player. Serena, for her part, is more muscularly built than her sister. This translates to a more powerful game of tennis. Her groundstrokes have more force and can come from both her backhand and forehand, enables her to control rallies from the baseline. Her powerful serve is the envy of every female player and is known as the best in her division. She ended 2008 by winning the U.S. Open Women's Singles title and the number 2 spot in the world.

4.Venus Williams-She may be older than Serena but during the all Williams final at Wimbledon in 2008, she showed everybody just what it takes to beat her younger sister. Taller and with a longer wingspan and greater determination, Venus practically dived for every ball that Serena returned and even had the ability to score winners while doing so. She won 7-5, 6-4. She then teamed up with her younger sister to claim the Women's Doubles at Wimbledon and the gold medal for the same event at the Olympics. She is 7th in the world.

See the latest Australian Open tennis scores at Scorespro.com/tennis