The draw for the year's first Grand Slam at the Australian Open is set -- and there are some tough tests for the biggest names in the early rounds. 

Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was on hand with defending men's champion Jannik Sinner to kick off the official draw ceremony on Thursday at Melbourne Park. The World No.1, the top seed at a major for the first time in her career, leads the draw in the hopes of being the first woman to win three straight singles titles Down Under since Martina Hingis in 1997-99.

"To be back here, and to walk here with this beautiful trophy as the two-time defending champion is definitely something special," Sabalenka said. "I really hope that I can keep doing what I'm doing here in Australia.

"Putting your name into history and being next to those legends, it's something special. [Winning three in a row] would be huge, but I have to focus on myself ... bring my best tennis every time I'm out there, and to hopefully put my name next to those legends."

But Sabalenka won't have things all her own way. First up, she was drawn to face 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the opening round -- and the road only gets tougher from there.

Read on for a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of the women's draw:

First quarter

Top 10 seeds: No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, No.5 Zheng Qinwen

Sabalenka and Stephens have played four times previously, and Sabalenka has never lost -- but three of the four matches went the distance. The other, their most recent meeting, was a 7-6(5), 6-4 triumph for Sabalenka at Roland Garros in 2023. 

Should Sabalenka navigate her way past the former World No.3, a softer match on paper awaits against either Brit Sonay Kartal or Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maniero -- but the first seed in her path is No.29 Linda Noskova, who famously stunned then-No.1 Iga Swiatek in the third round last year. But Noskova will have to be wary: Just 1-2 to start the season, the Czech opens against recently-crowned ASB Classic champion Clara Tauson in what's sure to be a hard-hitting match. 

Down the line, a fifth career matchup against Mirra Andreeva could await Sabalenka in the Round of 16, and she could face No.5 seed Zheng Qinwen in another high-profile major rematch in the quarterfinals. China's top player broke through in Melbourne a year ago, becoming the second woman from her country after Li Na to reach a major singles final, and will face Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni in the first match of her return.

Other names to watch in Zheng's section are No.12 seed Diana Shnaider and No.18 seed Donna Vekic -- slated to meet in Round 3 -- as well as veterans Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No.27 seed, and the returning Marketa Vondrousova, who's slated to play her first major since losing in the first round of her Wimbledon title defense last year.

Second quarter

Top 10 seeds: No.3 Coco Gauff, No.7 Jessica Pegula

Sabalenka and Coco Gauff were drawn into the top half in a projected semifinal -- a match, and round, won by Sabalenka 12 months ago in Rod Laver Arena 7-6(2) 6-4. Gauff, like Sabalenka, faces a major winner at the first hurdle, as she opens against 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin. Kenin is 2-0 at Grand Slam events against Gauff in her career, though they haven't played since she upset her younger compatriot in the first round of Wimbledon two seasons ago.

Looming in Gauff's quarter is two-time Australian Open winner Naomi Osaka, who will face France's Caroline Garcia in the first round in Melbourne for the second year in a row. The former World No.4 toppled Osaka last year in the latter's first Grand Slam match since becoming a mother. This time, all eyes will be on how Osaka pulls up after being forced to retire against Tauson in the final of the ASB Classic less than a week ago as Garcia makes her season debut.

The winner of that could face No.20 seed Karolina Muchova in Round 2, with No.16 seed Jelena Ostapenko (or the returning Belinda Bencic, Ostapenko's first-round foe) all for the right to potentially face Gauff in the last 16. 

At the bottom of the quarter is No.7 seed Jessica Pegula, along with two other former Melbourne quarterfinalists: No.11 seed Paula Badosa and No.17 seed Marta Kostyuk, the latter of whom fell to Gauff in a marathon three-setter last year.

Third quarter

Top 10 seeds: No.4 Jasmine Paolini, No.6 Elena Rybakina

Paolini and Rybakina, the 2023 Melbourne finalist, anchor this quarter. Paolini's first opponent is Chinese qualifier Wei Sijia, while Rybakina will face a wild card: Aussie Emerson Jones, currently the World No.1 in juniors who this week breezed to her first tour-level main-draw victory in Adelaide.

Also here are players who've thrived in Melbourne before, including No.10 seed Danielle Collins, the 2022 runner-up; No.19 seed Madison Keys, a former semifinalist; No.28 seed Elina Svitolina, set to play for the first time since the US Open following offseason foot surgery; and Svitolina's fellow Ukrainian, No.32 seed Dayana Yastremska, who stormed to the semifinals 12 months ago out of qualifying. 

Svitolina opens against Sorana Cirstea, herself on the comeback trail after a foot injury, and could face Paolini in the third round, while Yastremska is projected against Rybakina in the same round.

Should the seeds hold, Paolini and Rybakina could play for a sixth time, after facing each other three times last year.

Fourth quarter

Top 10 seeds: No.2 Iga Swiatek, No.8 Emma Navarro, No.9 Daria Kasatkina

In the bottom quarter, No.2 seed Swiatek opens against Katerina Siniakova, and she, like Sabalenka, could have to navigate a tough road to a deep run. No.26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who scored a hard-court win over Swiatek in Miami last year, is the seeded opponent for Swiatek, but plenty of other names could play spoiler. 

Alexandrova's first opponent is 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, while Amanda Anisimova, who's made the Melbourne fourth round three times, could also find herself in the slot. Further up are No.13 seed Anna Kalinskaya, who also earned a hard-court win against Swiatek last year (Dubai) and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.

At the top, and Swiatek's projected quarterfinal foe, is No.8 seed Emma Navarro, who opens against fellow American Peyton Stearns in a match between two ex-NCAA national collegiate tennis champions. Looming nearby her are not just No.9 seed Daria Kasatkina and No.31 seed Maria Sakkari, but also Ons Jabeur, who returns to the Grand Slam stage after a shoulder injury cut her 2024 short. A quarterfinalist in Brisbane to start 2025, and a winner against Collins this week in Adelaide, Jabeur could face Sakkari in Round 2.