There’s little rest for main draw hopefuls at Brisbane International 2018 with qualifying for eight main-draw spots to begin on Friday.
The 2012 champion and former world No.15 Kaia Kanepi, of Estonia, and 2011 runner-up and former world No.9 Andrea Petkovic headline the women’s field.
Kanepi returned to form late last year, following a lengthy injury lay-off, with a quarter-final showing at the US Open. She defeated Francesca Schiavone and Daniela Hantuchova in succession to claim the Brisbane International title in 2012 and will open her 2018 campaign against Aussie wild card Kimberly Birrell.
Petkovic plays her first-round qualifying match against Russian Polina Monova.
They join seasoned campaigners Heather Watson and Kateryna Bondarenko in the draw, with 20-year-old Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva and 22-year-old American Jennifer Brady the top two seeds.
Vikhlyantseva is coming off her strongest season in which she finished on the cusp of the top 50 after semi-final runs on home soil in St Petersburg and Moscow. She begins against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova.
Nine Australians will bid to join compatriots Ash Barty, Sam Stosur and Destanee Aiava in the women’s singles main draw.
Lizette Cabrera, Priscilla Hon, Jaimee Fourlis, Naiktha Bains, Sara Tomic, Isabelle Wallace, Tammi Patterson and Olivia Rogowska join Birrell in qualifying action.
A string of rising talents headline men’s singles qualifying, which kicks off tomorrow, with 20-year-old Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik, 21-year-old American Ernesto Escobedo and 21-year-old Austrian Sebastian Ofner in action.
Ofner beat Jack Sock and Thomaz Bellucci at Wimbledon before falling to Zverev in the third round in 2017.
Australians JP Smith, Sam Groth and Omar Jasika are among the local contingent hoping for wild cards into men’s qualifying.