The top three seeds (S. Williams,Simona Halep andGarbiñe Muguruza) were in contention for theworld No. 1 ranking. Williams retained the top spot after Halep and Muguruza were eliminated in the first and third rounds, respectively.
The twelve seeds that lost in the opening round were the most to do so at any major since the 32-seed draw was adopted at the2001 Wimbledon Championships.[4]
Zhang Shuai became the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals sinceAngélica Gavaldón in1990.[5] Zhang also won her first main draw major match in her 15th main draw appearance.
This was the first major appearance for future two-time champion and world No. 1Naomi Osaka, who lost toVictoria Azarenka in the third round. It was also the last professional event for former world No. 1Maria Sharapova until the2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Sharapova failed a drug test at this tournament, testing positive for the banned substancemeldonium, and was suspended from professional tennis for 15 months as a result. She lost here in the quarterfinals to Williams, in a rematch of the previous year's final.
This was the final Australian Open appearance of2008 finalistAna Ivanovic, who lost toMadison Keys in the third round.