Australian Open: Previous women's winners

The Australian Open is just under three weeks away and the world's elite will be hoping to hit the ground running and claim bragging rights by winning the first Grand Slam of the season.

Australian Open women's winners

Year	Champion	Runner-up
1969	Margaret Court	Billie Jean King
1970	Margaret Court	Kerry Melville
1971	Margaret Court	Evonne Goolagong
1972	Virginia Wade	Evonne Goolagong
1973	Margaret Court	Evonne Goolagong
1974	Evonne Goolagong	Chris Evert
1975	Evonne Goolagong	Martina Navratilova
1976	Evonne Goolagong	Renáta Tomanová
1977	Kerry Melville Reid	Dianne Fromholtz
1977	Evonne Goolagong	Helen Gourlay
1978	Chris O'Neil	Betsy Nagelsen
1979	Barbara Jordan	Sharon Walsh
1980	Hana Mandlíková	Wendy Turnbull
1981	Martina Navratilova	Chris Evert
1982	Chris Evert	Martina Navratilova
1983	Martina Navratilova	Kathy Jordan
1984	Chris Evert	Helena Suková
1985	Martina Navratilova	Chris Evert
1986 (No competition)
1987	Hana Mandlíková	Martina Navratilova
1988	Steffi Graf	Chris Evert
1989	Steffi Graf	Helena Suková
1990	Steffi Graf	Mary Joe Fernández
1991	Monica Seles	Jana Novotná
1992	Monica Seles	Mary Joe Fernández
1993	Monica Seles	Steffi Graf
1994	Steffi Graf	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
1995	Mary Pierce	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
1996	Monica Seles	Anke Huber
1997	Martina Hingis	Mary Pierce
1998	Martina Hingis	Conchita Martínez
1999	Martina Hingis	Amélie Mauresmo
2000	Lindsay Davenport	Martina Hingis
2001	Jennifer Capriati	Martina Hingis
2002	Jennifer Capriati	Martina Hingis
2003	Serena Williams	Venus Williams
2004	Justine Henin	Kim Clijsters
2005	Serena Williams	Lindsay Davenport
2006	Amélie Mauresmo	Justine Henin
2007	Serena Williams	Maria Sharapova
2008	Maria Sharapova	Ana Ivanovic
2009	Serena Williams	Dinara Safina
2010	Serena Williams	Justine Henin
2011	Kim Clijsters	Li Na
2012	Victoria Azarenka	Maria Sharapova
2013	Victoria Azarenka	Li Na
2014	Li Na	Dominika Cibulková
2015	Serena Williams	Maria Sharapova
2016	Angelique Kerber	Serena Williams
2017	Serena Williams	Venus Williams
2018	Caroline Wozniacki	Simona Halep
2019	Naomi Osaka	Petra Kvitová
2020	Sofia Kenin	Garbiñe Muguruza
2021	Naomi Osaka	Jennifer Brady
2022	Ashleigh Barty	Danielle Collins
2023	Aryna Sabalenka	Elena Rybakina
2024	Aryna Sabalenka	Zheng Qinwen

Australian Open current women's champion

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka is the reigning Australian Open champion after successfully retaining the title she first won in 2023.

Sabalenka beat China's Zheng Qinwen in 2024 to secure her second Grand Slam title, before later adding a third major at the US Open later that year.

Australian Open most successful women's winners

Margaret Court is the most decorated female player of all-time at the Australian Open, with the Perth native taking her home title on 11 occasions.

Only four of those came in the Open Era, however, with Court's final success in 1973 coming 13 years after her first.

In recent years, the phenomenon that is Serena Williams has dominated the Australian Open, winning it seven times from 2003 to 2017.

Of the players still competing on the WTA Tour, Victoria Azarenka, Naomi Osaka and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka are multiple winners having all won the Australian Open twice.

Australian Open women's biggest shocks

In 2020, American ace Sofia Kenin came from a set down to upstage two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza in Melbourne.

The then 21-year-old had been a 66/1 shot pre-tournament, but seemed unfazed by the occasion and went on to finish runner-up at the French Open later that season.

Other notable surprises include Angelique Kerber's 50/1 success in 2016, when the German overcame reigning champion Serena Williams in an epic three-setter to claim the first of her three Grand Slam crowns.

In 2014, fourth seed Li Na, who had been available at 18/1 before a ball was served and was previously twice a runner-up, outclassed a 375/1 pre-tournament chance in Dominika Cibulkova to take the title.