A Grand Slam-worthy start: Seven Top 10 stars headline Brisbane International
The field at the Brisbane International, where play begins Sunday, is absolutely, positively loaded.
Technically, this is a WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz 500 event -- but, given the depth and breadth of the accomplished participants, it’s a Grand Slam-worthy draw featuring last year’s Australian Open champion (Madison Keys), US Open champion (Aryna Sabalenka) and WTA Finals champ (Elena Rybakina).
To name a few.
Seven of the Top 10 are assembled here, and for the next eight days tennis fans will be focused on Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, situated along the middle of Australia’s east coast.
That said, Sabalenka -- the reigning World No. 1 for more than a year now -- has sculpted an almost flawless 13-1 record in Brisbane, winning titles in 2023 and 2025 and losing the 2024 final to Rybakina.
“I always enjoy coming here,” Sabalenka told reporters on Saturday. “I always show my best tennis here. I enjoy playing in front of all of the people. I'm really excited to be back and really hope to do well again.”
Sabalenka led all women with 63 match-wins last year (one more than Iga Swiatek) and nine of them came in WTA 500 events. She’s trying to equal Karolina Pliskova’s all-time mark of three titles in Brisbane.
Finest quality
Feast your eyes on these potential quarterfinal matchups:
No. 1 Sabalenka vs. No. 5 Keys
No. 2 Amanda Anisimova vs. No. 6 Mirra Andreeva
No. 3 Rybakina vs. No. 7 Ekaterina Alexandrova
No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 8 Clara Tauson
“I feel like this week has always been one of those weeks where the field is pretty difficult and tough,” Keys said. “There is not a ton of places for all of us to go and play. We'll inevitably all end up in the same place.
“It happens a few times a year. I think it always kind of brings out the best in all of us.”
Pliskova returns
This will be the 15th edition of the women’s singles event at the Brisbane International. Since 2009, 10 different players have won the title. Only three players have won it on multiple occasions, Pliskova (2017, 2019, 2020), Serena Williams (2013, 2014) and Victoria Azarenka (2009, 2016).
Pliskova, now 33, will be playing her first tour-level match in more than a year. After losing at the 2024 US Open, the Czech Republic player underwent surgery on her left ankle -- and later needed a second procedure. Her only action in 2025 came in two WTA 125s – she went 1-2.
“There was even a moment when I thought I might never come back at all,” Pliskova told Flashscore. “Yes, I was questioning whether it was worth it. But then I gave myself a bit of space, some distance, and started training a bit differently.
“That’s also why I decided I wanted to give the start of the year another try.”
Wild cards, qualifiers, etc.
The quality of the tournament can be seen in the qualifying draw, where No. 70 Antonia Ruzic was the top seed. She lost in the first round to Maria Timofeeva -- who fell to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final round.
Your qualifiers: Sasnovich, Anna Bondar, Zhang Shuai, Olivia Gadecki, Rebecca Sramkova, Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Wild cards, all Australians: Ajla Tomljanovic, Talia Gibson, Kimberley Birrell and Emerson Jones, who makes her Brisbane debut at the age of 17 with a ranking of No. 150.
A new beginning
The overwhelming sentiments from players arriving Down Under involve excitement -- and relief from weeks of intense workouts not involving opponents.
“I think you are a bit tired of always working, practicing, so you really want to start finally playing some matches,” Rybakina said. “It's big difference from just working from morning till evening couple weeks in a row. So I feel like you're more motivated, fresher, at least in mind.”
Rybakina, who heads Brisbane’s second quarter of the draw, might have to get past No. 7 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, No. 11 Karolina Muchova and/or No. 15 Paula Badosa to get to the semifinals.
“It's not easy always to start season,” Rybakina said. “I think I'm ready, and we just will see how it's going to go.”