Maya Joint has formally been unveiled as the first women's home seed at the Australian Open since retired great Ash Barty won the crown in 2022.
After a spectacular two-title 2025 season, the 19-year-old Joint has rocketed up the rankings to world No.32 and will be seeded 30th at the season's first grand slam starting in Melbourne on Sunday.
Joint's elevation ensures the teenager won't strike a higher-ranked rival until at least the third round.
The US-born talent is only the sixth Australian female in the past 34 years to be seeded at her home major.
Barty was top seed for three consecutive years before breaking Australia's 44-year Open women's title drought.
Before her, the likes of former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, Daria Gavrilova, Casey Dellacqua and Alicia Molik ensured Australia had a women's seed almost every year stretching back to 2005.
"I definitely feel some extra pressure. But like Billie-Jean (King) said, pressure is a privilege, so (I've) got to just take it positively," Joint said after her rousing Adelaide International first-round win over 2020 Open champion Sofia Kenin on Tuesday.
Six-time grand slam quarter-finalist Alex de Minaur will enter the Open with his highest seeding yet at a major after rising to No.6 in the world.
De Minaur is the men's sixth seed, which guarantees the 26-year-old cannot run into a heavyweight like world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, two-time defending AO champion Jannik Sinner, last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev or 10-time Melbourne Park king Novak Djokovic until at least the quarter-finals.
De Minaur and Joint are Australia's only two singles seeds this year.
Two-time champ Aryna Sabalenka is the women's top seed ahead of world No.2 Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova, the American starlet who reached both the Wimbledon and US Open finals in a breakout 2025 grand slam season.
Alcaraz, Sinner, Zverev and Djokovic - who continues his quest to eclipse Margaret Court's equal-all-time record of 24 singles slams - are the men's top four seeds.
The much-awaited Open draw will take place at Melbourne Park's Grand Slam Oval on Thursday afternoon.
