Former world No.12 and Serbian Davis Cup star Victor Troicki heads a packed schedule of qualifying on Saturday at the Brisbane International.
The 28-year-old, who reached the final of the Sydney International in 2011 and was ranked as high as No.12 before being hit with a suspension for missing a drug test, made his return to competition last July where he reached the quarterfinals in Gstaad before going on to win two Challenger titles and reaching the semifinals in the Vienna Open.
A member of the victorious 2011 Serbian Davis Cup team, Troicki recently stated his intention is to crack the top 10 and to once again represent his country.
Seeded No.2 for Brisbane International qualifying, Troicki will open today against Australian wildcard Maverick Banes.
German top seed Tomias Kamke also starts against an Australian wildcard, Blake Mott, while last year’s Australian Open men’s doubles champion and 2013 Wimbledon men’s singles quarterfinalist Lukasz Kubot takes on American Alex Kuznetsov in his opener.
Former world No.15 and 2005 US Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri will square off against fellow American Tim Skyczek first up.
Of the other Australians in action, Harry Bourchier takes on Canadian Frank Dancevic, Dane Propoggia kicks off his season against American No.6 seed Denis Kudla and Matt Reid starts against Chile’s Hans Podlipnik-Castillo.
In second round women’s singles qualifying, French former world No.16 Virginie Razzano takes on recent Australian Open Wildcard Playoff winner Daria Gavrilova after both posted impressive first round wins yesterday.
The only other Australian left in the draw, Anastasia Rodionova, will meet American No.8 seed Irina Falconi.
The top four women’s seeds – Yaroslava Shvedova (No.1), Kimiko Date-Krumm (No.2), Lesia Tsurenko (No.3) and Madison Brengle (No.4) – will all bid for third-round qualifying berths.
Saturday is free entry to Queensland Tennis Centre. For tickets from Sunday, January 4, visit Ticketek.
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