One of the most underrated tournaments of the year has to be the #HobartInternational, who never had the chance to be in the spotlight due to the Apia International Sydney which is held on the same week traditionally.
With the draw being released just days ago, there are several highly-anticipated matches with a quality field full of depth.
First Quarter: Garcia receives a tricky draw
The top seed in this tournament will be world number 19 #CarolineGarcia, who received a wildcard after a disappointing loss to 131st-ranked Ivana Jorovic in her first match of the new season at the Shenzhen Open. However, Garcia’s tough luck just continued to bother her — this time pitting her up against the dangerous #SofiaKenin, who is known as one of the game’s best youngsters these days. #AnaBogdan and #OnsJabeur also face off in a hard-hitting first-round contest, with the Tunisian proving her worth through solid performances recently.
#TimeaBabos, who lost to eventual surprise finalist Bianca Andreescu in Auckland this week, faces off against another hard-hitting rising star, #ViktoriaKuzmova. The Hungarian is struggling for form recently and is definitely prone to the upset, although the Slovakian comes into the match being the favourite. Seventh seed #KirstenFlipkens is scheduled to open her Hobart campaign against one of the game’s most improved players, #DalilaJakupovic.
Prediction: Kuzmova d. Kenin
Second Quarter: Sakkari receives favourable draw
Fourth seed #MariaSakkari will face qualifier #MagdaLinette in the opening round and she could not have wished for a better draw as her potential second-round opponent would either be qualifier #GreetMinnen or lucky-loser #KaterynaKozlova. Sakkari had a good week at the Hopman Cup and will be looking to prove her giant-killing credentials at the Australian Open.
Sixth seed #AlizeCornet was handed a favourable first-round match, going up against local qualifier #AlisonBai who is set to play her maiden WTA main draw match at the age of 28. Rising star #EllenPerez goes up against Frenchwoman #PaulineParmentier and she has a decent chance of creating the huge upset in front of her supportive home fans.
Prediction: Sakkari d. Cornet
Third Quarter: Zhang leads the way
Eighth seed #AlisonVanUytvanck was forced to retire from her match at the ASB Classic after experiencing a scary-looking fall which saw her roll her ankle. Provided that she is fully healthy once again, her match against #MonaBarthel is set to be interesting with the German having the ability to pull off the upset. #AnnaKarolinaSchmiedlova, struggling to grab some wins in recent months, goes up against Russian #EvgeniyaRodina in the opening round.
Former champion #HeatherWatson had to get past the qualifying rounds to enter the main draw, but that challenge did not faze her. Her reward will be a first-round match against #IrinaCameliaBegu, who has been in poor form recently. Third seed #ZhangShuai receives a tricky opener as she clashes against the hard-hitting #AnnaBlinkova in her opening hurdle.
Prediction: Zhang d. Rodina
Fourth Quarter: Defending finalist Buzarnescu handed a tricky test
In what could be the best first-round match of the draw, fifth seed #AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova would be going up against the talented and powerful #VeraLapko in the first round. Their last meeting at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz went the distance although the Belarusian will be looking to complete the huge win this time around. Teenage sensation and Hong Kong champion #DayanaYastremska faces off with qualifier #LauraSiegemund, who is still in the midst of her comeback trail from a career-threatening injury. The clash of two completely different styles will make the match exceptionally interesting.
Local wildcard #ZoeHives will play #JohannaLarsson and the winner will get a golden opportunity to face a top player in the second round. 2018 finalist #MihaelaBuzarnescu received the worst draw possible, after former top-10 player #BelindaBencic was drawn to face the Romanian. Bencic won the Hopman Cup this week, alongside Roger Federer, and looks to carry her good form into Hobart. She should be able to emerge victorious from this quarter.
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