Dellacqua said the 26-year-old’s consistency on hard court trumps that of the other contenders.  

“There are so many question marks over so many other players. I think Sabalenka goes in as by far the favourite for the Australian Open,” she said on the same podcast episode.

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“There’s names in the draw but when you think about big hitting, powerful hitting, mental fortitude, I think Sabalenka is by far the favourite.”

Also catching Dellacqua’s eye was world No.51 Karolina Muchova, after the Czech reached the US Open semifinals for a second consecutive year.

“Muchova for me was super impressive,” said Dellacqua of the former top-10 star.

“When she is playing her best tennis, she would consistently be in the top 10 and we saw real glimpses of that during the US Open.”