Australian Open Betting / Barry Millns / 17 January 2010 /

Sky's tennis commentator Barry Millns looks at the contenders in a competitive women's draw

There is no doubt that the women's draw at this year's Australian Open looks much more exciting at the outset than 12 months ago. The returns of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin from retirement, plus Maria Sharapova's comeback from injury should certainly bring more money into the market and pose more problems for those who stand in their way.

The good news, though, for the world number one, top seed and defending champion Serena Williams is that those three stars of the past decade have all been drawn in the opposite half to her, as has Elena Dementieva who beat her in the Sydney final. No surprise then that Williams is currently trading as the [4.7] favourite to claim her 12th major title and fifth in Melbourne.

There is a nagging concern for the American superstar about a sore left knee which made her limp in Sydney, but she insisted it was not a ligament problem and had more to do with not having played competitively for two months. While Sydney semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka ([30.0]), 2008 runner-up Ana Ivanovic ([85.0]), and top Australian Sam Stosur ([130.0]) are all in her quarter, Serena should see her way through to the semis if the knee holds up and she keeps the unforced errors under control.

Should Williams make it to the last four she could then face her sister Venus ([18.0]). But it is seven years since the latter made it so far (last year she crashed out in the second round) and although she has won grand slams before with no competitive preparation to speak of, it is hard to see her doing so in the brutal Australian conditions as she approaches her 30th birthday.

If not Venus then maybe Caroline Wozniacki ([23.0) will live up to her highest major seeding of No.4. Still only 19, the Dane's run to last year's US Open final underlined her major potential but her form since then has been mixed and most recently resulted in a first round loss in Sydney to Li Na ([260.0]) who could meet her again in the fourth round.

As for the bottom half of the draw whoever comes through the third quarter should be very hard to stop. Most intriguing is the potential second round meeting between Dementieva ([15.5]) and third-favourite Henin ([7.2]), with a probable quarter-final opponent being Clijsters ([4.9]).

Clijsters' remarkable run to last year's US Open crown just six weeks after coming out of retirement was a huge boost to the women's game and the fact that she beat Henin in a thrilling three-setter for last week's warm-up title in Brisbane showed that both Belgians have big New Year's resolutions!

Henin suffered a gluteal strain in the process and pulled out of Sydney to recover. But the 2004 champion, who beat Clijsters back then for the title and was runner-up two years later, should again be a formidable obstacle.

Svetlana Kuznetsova is the third seed but she's never got past the quarter-finals in Melbourne and lost early in Sydney, hence her current odds of ([40.0]).

This time last year Jelena Jankovic ([65.0]) entered the opening major as top seed, but she failed to make it into the second week, has struggled since and lost her opening match of this year in Sydney.

Sharapova has played down her chances of regaining the title she won two years ago. But she is currently trading as the fourth-favourite at [11.5] and could make the most of a fairly kind draw which could lead to her facing second seed and compatriot Dinara Safina.

Thumped in last year's final and humiliated at other times since as the 'No.1 without a slam', the leading Russian can at least play without that tag nagging at her for the moment. And although she lost to Dementieva in Sydney, Safina has at least recovered from her back injury.

But I believe the winner will hail from Belgium and while it is very tough to choose between Clijsters and Henin, keep an eye on their compatriot Yanina Wickmayer ([65.0]). Having appealed successfully to overturn her recent ban, last year's surprise semi-finalist in New York not only won last week's tournament in Auckland, she's since won three matches in qualifying and is clearly in the kind of sharp form that could burst some more bubbles.

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