Australian Open 2021: Wide-open women's draw is a credit to the achievements of the WTA stars

When Angelique Kerber lost to Bernarda Pera on Day 1 of this year's Australian Open, it was a big deal. The German won the title in Melbourne back in 2016, and also has Slam victories at Wimbledon and the US Open in her trophy cabinet.

Her defeat was forgotten about when Day 2 rolled around and even more former Slam champions disappeared - 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, and two-time US Open champion Victoria Azarenka.

The third day of competition was the final one for seven-time Slam champion Venus Williams, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.

And it's a testament to the even standard of competition on the WTA Tour that even with those departures, there are still multiple Slam champions in the field - and even more contenders to win this title.

Already in the third round are Garbine Muguruza, Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and Simona Halep. Still in the draw but yet to play their second-round match are world number one Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Sofia Kenin (plus the lurking Samantha Stosur, who might play more doubles these days and won't win here, but still has a US Open title to her credit).

And of course there are other hopefuls to claim the Melbourne crown who are currently without a major trophy - such as Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, and Belinda Bencic - who next plays former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Those are just the obvious potential winners. A Slam during a pandemic is even more unpredictable than usual.

"It's tough to expect that all the top players will win every match, because some of them had to do quarantine 14 days, they couldn't practise," pointed out Halep. "Also, for us, those who practised, [it] was not that easy even if we had the...good possibility to train.

"The times are not easy for everybody, so [the] mental part is paying a lot of work this period, and we will see day by day. So I don't really feel like the top players will win every match this period."

With so many top players and so many crunch encounters so early in the draw, it's difficult to disagree.

Since 2006, there have been eight male Grand Slam singles champions - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray, Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem.

In the same period, there have been 25 women to win a Slam.

Serena has the most wins, of course - but the last 15 years has also featured the tail-end of Justine Henin's career, the return of Kim Clijsters after becoming a mother, plus titles for Amelie Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Li Na, Marion Bartoli, Flavia Pennetta and Caroline Wozniacki, and those who were in the draw here in Melbourne: Kvitova, Kuznetsova, Stosur, Azarenka, Venus, Kerber, Muguruza, Ostapenko, Stephens, Halep, Osaka, Barty, Andreescu, Kenin and Swiatek.

And for all the mutterings that the women's tour is weak because of its lack of an utterly dominant champion, the achievements of the current crop of players ought not be dismissed. Serena's efforts to reach a stunning 24th Slam crown have been well documented, but what about Osaka? She has now won Grand Slams in three consecutive calendar years - joining a pretty exclusive club, along with KIm Clijsters, Justine Henin, and Serena Williams.

Or Halep? She has not dropped out of the rankings top ten in the past seven years. That kind of longevity and consistency has to be admired.

Women's tennis might not have a Big Three - but it has a lot of stars who deserve to have their brilliance acknowledged...and it makes for a heck of an exciting spectacle at a Slam.