The draw has taken place for the Brisbane International and there are some tough early tests for the seeded players.
In the 2016 edition of the event there will be eight top 15 players battling for the title. Heading the field will be Simona Halep followed by Garbine Muguruza. Both players have received a first round bye.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova will begin her title defence against fellow countrywoman Ekaterina Maakarova. The third seed has a commanding head-to-head lead over Makarova, winning all six of their previous meetings. This last encounter was at the 2015 Australian Open where Sharapova took the win 6-3, 6-2. If she wins the first round, Sharapova is on course to play Andrea petkovic, Belina Bencic and Simona Halep before the final.
Fourth seed Angelique Kerber will kick-off her campaign against Italy’s Camila Giorgi. The two women have played each other once before at the 2015 Wuhan Open. On that occasion Kerber eased herself to a 6-2, 6-4 win. Other players in Kerber’s section include a potential second round clash with Madison Brengle and a last eight meeting against French Open semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky.
Carla Suarez Navarro could have another factor to cope with in her secrtion, the Australian crowd. If she gets past wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round, the Spanish fifth seed could face home favorite Sam Stosur in the second round.
Once the first round matches are complete there could be a mouthwatering second round meeting between top seed Halep and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka. Recently Azarenka has said that her best tennis is still to come after enduring two of injury issues. The last two meeting between the two was in the quarterfinal of last years US Open where Halep took the win in three sets.
Full Draw
