Jelena Ostapenko and Emma Navarro are champions in Australian Open WTA warmup tournaments

Jelena Ostapenko and Emma Navarro played outstanding tennis to earn titles in the WTA warmup tournaments before the 2024 Australian Open.

Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, proved once again she had the game to win on hardcourts with her seventh WTA career title victory at Adelaide International. She vowed to play more aggressively in the New Year, and it showed in the final against Daria Kasatkina, winning 6-3, 6-2.

Navarro, the 22-year-old American, won her maiden WTA title at Hobart on Saturday. She defeated two-time Hobart champion Elise Mertens in three sets. She is picking up where she left off at the end of 2023 and enters the Australian Open seeded 25th. After match point, a jubilant Navarro went over to her box, hugged her team, and signed a few autographs for fans before returning to the court.

Are Jelena Ostapenko and Emma Navarro players to watch at the Australian Open?

The women's draw is loaded with talented players who could win the first Grand Slam of the year, and Ostapenko and Navarro are just two of the players to keep an eye on. Ostapenko is a Grand Slam champion and for the first time in five years finds herself back in the top 10 giving her more confidence and making her even more dangerous.

Ostapenko will face Aussie native Kimberly Birrell in her first round at Melbourne. Birrell received a wildcard for the tournament, and in years past has defeated big-name players (Kaia Kanepi, 2022) in the first round with the home crowd supporting her.

Navarro has been under the radar behind Top 5 ranked Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, but that could change. She is preparing to play her first career Australian Open and faces a tough first-round opponent in China's Xinyu Wang.

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