With an impressive honour role comprising of the likes of Kim Clijsters, Alicia Molik, Patty Schnyder and Petra Kvitova the Moorilla Hobart International has traditionally been a spring board for some of the world’s best tennis players.
Clijsters was the winner of the 2000 title and Kvitova took out the crown in 2009. Since those wins, both have gone on to have successful tennis careers at both Grand Slam and WTA level.
Australian Molik claimed the title in 2003 before embarking on her quest into the top ten of the tennis world while Schnyder went on to play in the quarterfinals of both the French and US Opens after winning in 1998.
Now a new bunch of up-and-coming stars will take to the court in Hobart in their preparation for the Australian Open and beyond.
An impressive twenty- four of the top sixty female players in the world will play off for the iconic Moorilla Hobart International trophy starting on January 6, 2012.
World number 23 Yanina Wickmayer headlines the long list of highly ranked players competing for the 2012 title.
Wickmayer had a successful 2011 on the WTA tour. She was a finalist at Auckland before playing off in the semifinals at Indian Wells.
While she did not match her personal best at a Grand Slam, Wickmayer still had a strong showing at the four major tournaments of the year.
The Belgian’s greatest threat will be world number 27 Anabel Medina Garrigues who won two WTA titles in 2011. Medina Garrigues was required to defeat strong fields on her way to claiming the Palermo and Estroil titles last year.
World number 32 Angelique Kerber comes into Hobart after making it to the semifinal of the US Open in 2011. This is her best result at Grand Slam level but not her only achievement for the year.
The 22- year- old made the semifinals at Osaka and Dallas in 2011. She returns to Hobart after losing in this year’s quarterfinals to American Bethanie Mattek- Sands.
The flamboyant Mattek- Sands will also grace the court at the Hobart International in 2012. She was a finalist this year and will be hoping to emulate her success.
Czech star Petra Cetkovska will bring some excitement to the field. The number 31 in the world had a stellar 2011 after winning through to the fourth round of Wimbledon before progressing to the final at New Haven.
Hobart will also play host to other top fifty players including Israel’s Shahar Peer, Ksenia Pervak from Russia and Romanian star Irina – Camelia Begu.
Two Australians will contest for next year’s title including defending champion Jarmila Gajdosova and crowd favourite, Casey Dellacqua.
Hobart began what was a break out year for Gajdosova who reduced her world ranking from 42 to 33. Jarka, as she is known to her fans, fought her way through to the third round of both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2011.
Meanwhile former world number 39 Dellacqua has been awarded a wildcard into the event after winning thirty successive matches on the ITF Pro Circuit in 2011.
Next year’s tournament promises to once again display an exciting brand of female tennis treating fans to high quality entertainment.