Skysports.com picks out the top contenders for the year's first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
Championship contenders, Williams sisters and a Brit all in it to win it
Skysports.com picks out the top contenders for the year's first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
Ana Ivanovic
The Serbian star began 2008 in fine style, ascending to number two in the world by reaching the final at the Rod Laver Arena last season.
Despite the 7-5 6-3 defeat to Maria Sharapova that followed, Justine Henin's retirement and her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open combined to take the 21-year-old atop the WTA rankings in June.
A disappointing loss to unseeded wild card China's Zheng Jie was a setback in the third round at Wimbledon though.
And a mid-season slump deepened through injury and culminated in her defeat to world number 187 Julie Coin at the US Open - the earliest exit for a top seed at the major since Billie Jean King's loss to Julie Heldman in 1973.
Serena Williams went on to win that title, while her Serbian compatriot Jelena Jankovic saw out the year at number one.
Ivanovic has proven her quality already in this tournament and, in spite of an early-season defeat to Amelie Mauresmo, she expects to prove more of a threat than her current fifth-place ranking suggests.
Serena Williams
Last year's US Open winner set the standard after emerging out of her elder sister Venus' shadow in 2002 when it seemed no woman on the circuit could cope with her powerful game.
Three Australian Open titles were to follow in 2003, 2005 and 2007, but a fourth straight defeat in major quarter-finals during the 2008 tournament at Melbourne Park saw her slip down the rankings.
Current world number one Jankovic claimed the straight-sets victory on that occasion before the 27-year-old was again shot down by Venus in the Wimbledon final.
Revenge over her sibling was to come en route to the US Open title though - her ninth Grand Slam - and she finished the year at world number two.
A succession of leg injuries and increasing off-court commitments has combined to hamper her progress at times in her career.
But with those now behind her the former world number one will be determined to show she still rules over the young breed.
Jelena Jankovic
Four tour singles titles saw the Serbian close out 2008 as world number one.
She knocked defending champion Serena Williams out at Melbourne Park last year, but succumbed to Sharapova in the semi-finals.
Compatriot Ivanovic did for the 23-year-old in the last four at the French Open and her injuries began to mount as she went out of the fourth round at Wimbledon.
But she became the first woman to become world number one without winning a Grand Slam title in August and spurred on by her new seeding, she went on to reach the US Open final.
Despite the 6-4 7-5 loss to Serena Williams, she closed out the year at the top of the tree and embarked on an intense off-season fitness regime.
Her preparations for Melbourne Park have been severely restricted by illness though and she will be an underdog to prevail because of her lack of match practice.
Dinara Safina
Olympic silver medallist Dinara Safina came on in leaps and bounds in 2008 to move up to three in the world rankings.
The younger sister of former men's champion Marat Safin failed to live up to her billing in Melbourne last year, getting knocked out by a qualifier in the first round.
But she secured her place in the record books as the last player to take on and defeat Henin before the world number one retired in May.
And her Russian compatriots Sharapova and Elena Dementieva were the next stars to feel her wrath as she finished runner-up at the French Open.
A last-four finish at the US Open and a spot in the final at the Beijing Games rounded off a breakthrough year for Safina at the major events.
The 22-year-old looks set to go on to bigger and brighter things as both her physique and game continue to improve.
Venus Williams
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus has yet to claim the Australian Open title despite reaching the final in 2003.
Ivanovic knocked her out in the quarter-finals last year and the former world number one then failed to get past Flavia Pennetta in the third round at the French Open.
A straight-sets victory against sister Serena at the All England Club followed though - her fifth Wimbledon crown.
The younger, more powerful sibling got her own back at the US Open, but Venus went on to round off 2008 with victories against Dementieva, Safina and Serena again en route to the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships.
Off-court commitments have threatened to overshadow her playing career in the past, but when focused there is no better player.
And the athletic 28-year-old will be determined to prove she still has plenty to offer at Melbourne despite the advancing years.
Anne Keothavong
British number one Anne Keothavong upset the odds to record her first Grand Slam main-draw victory against Nicole Pratt at Wimbledon in 2004.
Eventual winner Sharapova steamrollered the youngster in the second round though and she returned to relative anonymity.
Three years of frustration followed before the Londoner of Laotian descent went on to became the first British woman to reach the semi-finals of a WTA Tour event since Jo Durie in 1992.
Despite failing to get past Maria Koryettseva in the last four at the Sunfeast Open in India that was a watershed in her career.
Again she fell to the eventual champion in the second round at Wimbledon - this time it was Venus Williams that did for the 25-year-old in straight sets.
And fifth seed Elena Dementieva cut short her progress in the third round of the US Open, but having forced her way up to 53 in the world rankings she is finally beginning to fulfil her potential.
