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.

The 2023 tournament fires into action on Monday, 16th January, and in the women's event Iga Swiatek is 7/4 to land her fourth piece of Grand Slam silverware.

World number one Swiatek has yet to win the Melbourne major, having been beaten in last season's semi-final, and there are plenty of big names hoping to upstage the Pole by triumphing down under.

What: 2023 Australian Open
Where: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
When: Monday 16th January - Sunday 29th January, 2023
How to watch: Discovery+, bet365 Sports Live Streaming
Odds: Iga Swiatek 7/4, Caroline Garcia 12/1, Aryna Sabalenka 12/1, Ons Jabeur 13/1, Coco Gauff 16/1, Naomi Osaka 16/1

Who won the 2022 Australian Open women's singles title?

The now-retired Ashleigh Barty stormed to success in her home Grand Slam last year, with the Australian brushing aside American 27th seed Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 to take the title.

Barty, who was world number one, had already won Grand Slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon and added the Australian equivalent to her glittering CV with a dominant display.

The Queensland girl won her home Major without dropping a set in her seven matches, which also included claiming the scalps of top-class trio Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys.

Just two months after becoming the first Australian player to win the AO singles title in 44 years, Barty announced her retirement from tennis at the age of just 25, with the superstar stating she was off to "chase other dreams".

Who are the most successful women's Australian Open 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 and Naomi Osaka are both multiple winners having each won the Australian Open twice.

Brilliant Belarusian Azarenka is 40/1 to claim a hat-trick of Australian Open wins in January, while Japanese superstar Osaka is a 16/1 chance.

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What are the biggest shocks in women's Australian Open history?

The last two winners of the Australian Open - Barty last year and Osaka in 2021 - were both prominent in the betting, but there have been some big surprises in recent times.

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.

Kenin has struggled to reproduce those heroics since, though, and is 100/1 to emulate those achievements next month.

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.

Who are the other previous winners of the women's Australian Open?

Due to its place at the beginning of the season, the world's leading stars tend to come to the fore at the Australian Open, with 14 of the last 15 winners of the women's event seeded seventh or lower.

2020 champion Kenin is the only exception to the curve as she was seeded 14 and even when Caroline Wozniacki was crowned champion in 2018 she was seeded second.

Wozniacki defeated then world number one Simona Halep in that final, meaning that after Barty's success last year the top seed has made the title decider in five of the previous ten editions. Swiatek will be hoping that trend continues in January.

Jennifer Capriati, Serena Williams, Azarenka and Osaka have all been multiple winners of the event since 2001, but there have also been notable successes for Justine Henin (2004), Amelie Mauresmo (2006), Maria Sharapova (2008) and Kim Clijsters (2011).