As expected, the 2019 #BrisbaneInternational will welcome an entire list of world-class players with its status of being the only Premier tournament in the first week of the new year. Hosting a massive entry list consisting of seven (You did not read that wrongly!) top-10 players, the tennis fans in Brisbane will be exposed to the pinnacle of women’s tennis with multiple blockbuster first-round matches definitely awaiting us.
WTA Finals and US Open champion leads the packed field
Current world number four and defending champion #ElinaSvitolina will be the top seed in Brisbane after her stunning run at the WTA Finals last year which saw her rattle off five consecutive wins against top-10 players to hoist the prestigious Billie Jean King trophy in Singapore. Looking to ride on her momentum, Svitolina aims to defend her title and is relatively successful in Brisbane and has advanced to the semifinals on three different occasions.
US Open champion and world number five #NaomiOsaka will make her debut in the main draw, having fallen in the third round of qualifying in Brisbane back in 2016. The Japanese opted to compete in Auckland to start her season in the past, but with her new status as a top player, she will be looking to vie for the bigger titles in the first week and get her season off to a great start.
2017 US Open champion #SloaneStephens is scheduled to compete in Brisbane for the first time since 2013 when she reached the semifinals on her debut appearance. The American was slated to compete here last year but was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury. She is scheduled to be the third seed in the tournament.
Two-time Wimbledon champion #PetraKvitova will make her first appearance in Brisbane for quite awhile. The Czech is a former champion having triumphed in 2011 when she hoisted the trophy as the world number 34, kickstarting her unbelievably successful season which saw her crack the top-five. Looking to replicate her success, Kvitova will be hoping to grab some wins against a couple of quality opponents in the first week of 2019.
2017 champion #KarolinaPliskova returns and she hopes to repeat that feat once more. The former world number one owns an 8-3 win-loss record in Brisbane and looks to build on that record after storming to the semifinals this year as well. Fellow semifinalist #AnastasijaSevastova, who made the last four on her debut this year, can also be found in the entry list for 2019.
Competing in Brisbane as a top-10 player for the first time in her career, #KikiBertens will look to shrug off the nightmares from her debut this year, when she was completely crushed by Ana Konjuh with a 1-6, 2-6 scoreline after just an hour of action. The seventh top-10 player found in the Brisbane entry list is #DariaKasatkina, who has not reached the quarterfinals before.
Hard-hitters dominate the field
#EliseMertens, who has a bulk of points to defend in January after claiming the Hobart title and reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, will make her debut in the main draw here at the Brisbane International. Despite her high ranking of 12, she will be unseeded in the tournament but she is the highest-ranked unseeded players and will, therefore, be a huge threat to the seeded players.
#AnettKontaveit, alongside #YuliaPutintseva will make just her second appearance in Brisbane after she lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round this year. Former semifinalist #LesiaTsurenko and #CarlaSuarezNavarro are also back in action. Defending finalist #AliaksandraSasnovich, who made a surprising run to the final having came through the qualifying rounds and defeating four consecutive top-40 players, returns as well.
#DanielleCollins, #KaterinaSiniakova and #MihaelaBuzarnescu will all be making their debuts in this tournament. The hard-hitting #CamilaGiorgi and #DonnaVekic looks to pose a huge challenge to the top players while former top-10 stars #JohannaKonta and #KristinaMladenovic will be lurking in the draw as well.
Gavrilova leads the home charge
Three Australian players are already confirmed to be participating in Brisbane, but #DariaGavrilova was the only local player to receive a direct entry to the main draw with her ranking of 35. Gavrilova has surprisingly only participated in Brisbane twice, but this time she will return as a huge threat to the seeded players.
Two of the wildcard recipients had already been confirmed — veteran #SamanthaStosur and youngster #PriscillaHon. Hon is yet to claim a win in the main draw of Brisbane while the 2011 US Open champion has not advanced past the second round in seven appearances.
NOTE: Camila Giorgi has withdrawn and replaced by Ajla Tomljanovic in the draw. The other wildcard is handed to Kimberly Birrell.
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