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Australian Open Records: Unseeded champions

Excitement is building ahead of the first Grand Slam of 2025, with the best players in the world heading to Melbourne Park to compete for Australian Open supremacy.

The cream rose to the top last year as men’s number one Jannik Sinner claimed his maiden Grand Slam title with a thrilling five-set victory over Daniil Medvedev, while Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her crown by putting her experience to good use against Qinwen Zheng in the women's final.

However, surprises can still happen and there have been three unseeded singles champions crowned Down Under in the Open Era, offering hope to those less-ranked players bidding to claim a statement win in 2025.

Mark Edmonson claimed the men's title in 1976 before Chris O'Neil took the women's crown two years later.

The most recent unseeded star was Serena Williams in 2007. The American, a seven-time Australian Open winner, had missed the whole 2006 campaign but came back with a vengeance to highlight her sheer dominance on the WTA Tour.

A couple have come close to springing a surprise in recent times, too. Garbine Muguruza finished runner-up to Sofia Kenin in 2020, despite claiming the opening set, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was a gallant finalist in his four-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in 2008.

2025 Australian Open

Mark Edmonson (1976)

Thirteen of the 16 seeds in the men’s Australian Open in 1976 hailed from Australia but it was the unseeded Mark Edmonson who eclipsed them all to take his one and only Grand Slam title.

Ranked at world number 212, Edmonson remains the lowest-ranked player ever to win a major in men's singles since the ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.

Edmonson defeated six seeds on his way to success, which included world number one Ken Rosewall in the semi-finals.

But it was his final victory over defending champion John Newcombe which was the most impressive as he had to come from a set down to do so.

It was only Edmonson’s third ever appearance in a Grand Slam and, although he made the semi-finals in only two Majors after his breakthrough success, it remains one of the biggest upsets in Australian Open history.

Chris O'Neil (1978)

British favourite Sue Barker topped the seedings in the women’s Australian Open in 1978 but she could only make the quarter-finals and it was home hope Chris O'Neil who went on to capitalise.

Evonne Goolagong was the reigning champion but she chose not to compete and that left the door ajar for O’Neil, who claimed the title despite winning only one match across her five previous tournament appearances.

O’Neil defeated American eighth seed Betsy Nagelsen 6-3 7-6 in the final while she also upset world number three Beth Norton in round two.

The Australian was unable to defend her title, missing the tournament in both 1979 and 1980, and she never went beyond the second round of a Grand Slam again, marking this down as one of the biggest surprises in the history of the competition.

Serena Williams (2007)

Serena Williams had already won the Australian Open title in 2003 and 2005 but it was tough to know what to expect ahead of her title pursuit in 2007 as she had missed the full season before due to depression.

As a result, the American had fallen to a low of world number 139 and was unseeded, meaning if she was to regain her title she was going to have to do it the hard way.

However, there was little to worry about as the American great overcame five seeded stars on her way to a third Australian Open title, wrapping up the prize with an emphatic 6-1 6-2 victory over world number one Maria Sharapova in the final.

Williams went on to win the Australian Open on four more occasions - in 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2017 - and goes down as the second most prolific player in women’s Grand Slam history with her 23 titles only one behind Margaret Court.

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