Three-time Australian Open champion Martina Hingis believes No.2 seed Petra Kvitova has what it takes to win this year's tournament after progressing through to the semi-finals.
Kvitova broke through for her maiden Grand Slam success at Wimbledon last year and Hingis thinks that with top seed Caroline Wozniacki out of the tournament, Kvitova is certainly the one to beat.
"If I had to put money on the beginning when I was asked, I put my money on Kvitova because I really love game she plays, the fluency she has on her strokes and the serve, and also now more confidence when I saw the finals at Wimbledon," she said.
"The one in Wimbledon against Sharapova is just like, you can't play any better. I mean, you felt like she could step it up when she needed to; she served great; she showed no nerves."
"I already saw one of her matches against Kim (Clijsters), in Coubertin, that final. She's a true champion. Sooner or later I think we'll see her at the top spot probably. If it's not going to happen here, I think it's a question of time.
Kvitova will meet the woman she defeated in the Wimbledon final, Maria Sharapova, in the final four, and Hingis also rates the Russian an excellent chance to win, especially after her hard fought fourth round win over Sabine Lisicki.
"I wonder how Kvitova is going to play, you know, someone like -- well, I don't know now they're playing, so probably you don't want to put like somebody up front," she said.
"But I would like to see how she's going to play someone like Sharapova or Clijsters in a Grand Slam."
Meanwhile, Hingis said there have been plenty of matches in the Australian Open which have proven a fine rebuttal to critics of women's tennis who think that the women's game at Grand Slam level fails to match the level shown by the men.
"I mean, now with the great matches we see, Lisicki played already against Kuznetsova. That was a great match. Now she plays Sharapova and it was a great match," she said.
"First rounds, come on. How about Djokovic killing everyone in the first three rounds or Federer not losing a set, more than three games in a set?"
"I mean, it's just sometimes that's the way it is. If champions are champions, they're well-prepared and they're going to play well from the beginning."