Where Barty will start Aussie Open tilt: ‘Eyes of the world’ on event

World No.1 and Australian Open title favourite Ash Barty has chosen where she will start her tennis summer.

World No.1 Ash Barty will launch her bid for a maiden Australian Open title at her happy hunting ground in Adelaide.

Barty headlines an extraordinary women’s field for next month’s Adelaide International that includes nine of the world’s top-10 players, including defending champion Iga Swiatek.

Fellow grand slam champions Garbine Muguruza, Barbora Krejcikova, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and Jelena Ostapenko are also contesting the WTA 500 event, which runs from January 2-9.

Barty won the Adelaide title two years ago before winning the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne in February in the lead-up to the Australian Open.

She also took part in a star-studded exhibition event in Adelaide this year.

The 25-year-old Queenslander made the surprise decision to play in South Australia after her Australian Open quarter-final defeat, but a nagging thigh injury came back to haunt her.

Ash Barty will try to replicate her 2020 Adelaide International title when she returns to South Australia in January. Picture: Getty Images

There hasn’t been a local singles winner at the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil’s unlikely 1978 triumph as an unseeded player.

But Barty, a dual grand slam champion, looms as the country’s best chance in years after winning the WTA’s player of the year and finishing the season as No.1 for the third-straight year.

There will also be an ATP 250 men’s tournament running at the same time in Adelaide, with entertaining Frenchman Gael Monfils set to be the No.1 seed.

Russian Karen Khachanov and Croatia’s Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, are also in the field, along with rising stars Frances Tiafoe and Sebastian Korda and Australian John Millman.

“Once again, the eyes of the world will be on our great state, with our $44m transformation of Memorial Drive the centrepiece of this exciting tournament,” SA Premier Steven Marshall said.

“The calibre of players we’re able to attract is testament to the smart investment we’ve made in the venue.”

Past Australian Open champions Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal will start their Australian summer in Melbourne, where there will be two WTA 250 events and one ATP 250 tournament.

Among the other stars playing in Melbourne are Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori, David Goffin, Simona Halep, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Emma Raducanu.