Naomi Osaka celebrates beating Caroline Garcia during their women’s singles match at Australian Open.© AFP

Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player, who faces a tough first round match against Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” said the 22-year-old, recalling an incident on Friday.

“I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess.

“They flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray, natural, to try to ease the bites.

“I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to spray it. I was, like, I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it.”

Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek’s reputation was rocked last year when it was revealed she tested positive for a banned heart medication.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the violation was not intentional, and the Polish star escaped with a one-month sanction.

Her case followed defending Australian Open champion Sinner twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.

He was also exonerated by the ITIA, which accepted his explanation that the drug entered his system when his physio used a spray containing it to treat a cut.

The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed his case, which will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on April 16-17.

“It’s obviously a concern on our mind,” said Raducanu about fears of inadvertently ingesting a contaminated substance.

“We’re all in the same boat. I think it’s just how we manage as best as we can the controllables.

“If something out of our control happens, then it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove.”

World number one Aryna Sabalenka will be hot favourite to secure an Australian Open hat-trick, having won the past two years at Melbourne Park. In-form Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek are her biggest threats, but Zheng Qinwen could be primed for a Slam breakthrough after a stellar 2024, while emerging talent Mirra Andreeva could upset some top names. We highlight five women to watch at the first Grand Slam of the year starting on Sunday:

Aryna Sabalenka

The Belarusian comes into the Australian Open on the back of the best year of her career in which she won the US Open as well as retaining her Melbourne Park crown.

The powerful 26-year-old also won in Cincinnati and at the WTA 1000 at Wuhan, her fourth title of the year, which helped her unseat Iga Swiatek as world number one.

The defending champion is unbeaten in Melbourne since 2022, when she lost in the third round to Marketa Vondrousova.

Sabalenka began 2025 by winning the Brisbane International, dropping only one set on the way to the title.

Iga Swiatek

The 23-year-old Pole won her fourth French Open last year but ended 2024 under a doping cloud after serving a one-month ban.

Swiatek tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample in August but the International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted that the violation was not intentional.

News of the saga only emerged in late November but Swiatek made a confident return in the mixed-teams United Cup in Sydney last week as Poland reached the final, losing only one of her five singles matches — to Coco Gauff.

Swiatek’s Australian Open record is patchy and she has only progressed beyond the fourth round once, in 2022, when she was stunned by Danielle Collins in the semi-finals.

Coco Gauff

Arguably the hottest player in women’s tennis right now, Gauff has enjoyed a stunning few months after struggling with her serve and forehand in the wake of winning the US Open in 2023.

After parting with coach Brad Gilbert, Gauff won the WTA 1000 in Beijing and the WTA Tour Finals working with the little-known Matt Daly as she rescued a faltering year in superb style.

The 20-year-old world number three began her 2025 campaign with a run to the final of the United Cup where she beat Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Zheng Qinwen

The 22-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough 2024, beating Swiatek on her way to winning Olympic gold in Paris and claiming three WTA titles.

“Queen Wen” ended the year at a career-high number five after claiming the Pan Pacific Open title in Tokyo.

She then reached the championship match at the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, where she was edged in a final-set tiebreak by Gauff.

Zheng came close to becoming only the second Chinese player after Li Na to win a Grand Slam singles crown when she was beaten in the Australian Open final by Sabalenka a year ago.

With a powerful serve and heavy forehand, Zheng could again emerge as Sabalenka’s closest challenger on Melbourne’s hard and fast courts.

Mirra Andreeva

The Russian may be only 17 but driven by the fearlessness of youth she showed last year she can win on every surface.

The world number 15 possesses a fine array of shots and a tactical nous that belies her age. She won a maiden WTA title in Iasi, Romania, in July.

With seasoned coach and former Grand Slam winner Conchita Martinez in her corner, Andreeva’s trajectory would appear to be relentlessly upward.

She beat Sabalenka on her way to a maiden Slam semi-final at Roland Garros but the world number one turned the tables in the semi-finals in Brisbane last week, although the Belarusian’s 6-3, 6-2 win was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.

File image of Naomi Osaka and Cordae.© X (Twitter)

File image of Jannik Sinner.© AFP