2024 Australian Open – Women's singles
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka defeated Zheng Qinwen in the final, 6–3, 6–2 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2024 Australian Open. It was her second major singles title. Sabalenka did not lose a set during the tournament, and lost only 31 games in total. Sabalenka became the first player to defend the title since Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Women's singles | |
---|---|
2024 Australian Open | |
Champion | Aryna Sabalenka |
Runner-up | Zheng Qinwen |
Score | 6–3, 6–2 |
Draw | 128 |
Seeds | 32 |
This tournament marked the first time in the Open Era that multiple Ukrainians reached the quarterfinals at a singles major. Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska became the first qualifier to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open since Christine Matison in 1978, and the first of any major since Emma Raducanu in the 2021 US Open. Yastremska was also the first Ukrainian, male or female, to reach the semifinals at this major and only the third to do so, at any major, after Elina Svitolina and Andrei Medvedev. The loss of Azarenka to Yastremska in the fourth round guaranteed a first-time major finalist from the top half of the draw; Zheng emerged to become that player. Zheng became the second Chinese player to reach that level at a singles major, after Li Na. Zheng also became the second player in the Open Era to beat six unseeded players en route to the final after Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1995, and the third player to do so at any major (after Sánchez Vicario and Martina Hingis at 1996 and 1997 Wimbledon, respectively, with still the 16 seeds draw in place). By reaching the final, Zheng made her debut in the top ten of the WTA rankings, at No. 7.
For the first time in the tournament's history, there were six former champions in the main draw: Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, and Azarenka.
The defeat of world No. 1 Iga Świątek by Linda Nosková in the third round marked the earliest loss by a top seed at the Australian Open since 1979, and the first time that the top seed failed to make the round of 16 since the tournament became a 128-player draw in 1988. Nosková was the first teenager to defeat a world No. 1 at a major since Petra Kvitová defeated Dinara Safina at the 2009 US Open. The five top-10 seeds to reach the third round were the fewest since 1988. Only seven seeded players reached the fourth round; this was the worst performance by seeded players since the draw was expanded to 128 players in 1988, and the worst overall since 1985.
Elena Rybakina and Anna Blinkova played the longest tiebreak in a major singles match in the final set of their second-round match. Blinkova won the tiebreak 22–20.
This marked the final Australian Open appearance of 2022 finalist Danielle Collins, as she announced that 2024 would be the final year of her career. She lost to Świątek in the second round.