Top seed Casey Dellacqua faces a tricky opening encounter against Lauren Davis in the first round of the Hobart International.
Davis, one of five Americans accepted into the main draw, beat Dellacqua over three sets in their one previous encounter, in Miami two years ago. But after a banner season in 2014 the Perth native will face the 21-year-old brimming with confidence.
All four Australians in the draw open up against top-50 opposition. Alja Tomljanovic faces Karin Knapp of Italy with the prospect of an all-Australian second round battle with Dellacqua should both win their first-round matches.
Storm Sanders also faces Italian opposition in the form of No.3 seed Camila Giorgi, as does fellow wildcard Olivia Rogowska – the 23-year-old has been drawn with Roberta Vinci, installed as the the No.9 seed following Varvara Lepchenko’s withdrawal.
Former champion Mona Barthel, No.2 seed Zarina Diyas and wildcard debutant Daniela Hantuchova will each face qualifiers in the first round. Last year’s beaten finalist Klara Koukalova, the No.6 seed, will take on Kurumi Nara, while No.8 seed Alison Riske will face Christina McHale in an all-American tie.
The first round draw in full (PDF):
Casey Dellacqua (1) v Lauren Davis
Karin Knapp v Alja Tomljanovic
Kirsten Flipkens v Qualifier
Mona Barthel (7) v Qualifier
Camila Giorgi (3) v Storm Sanders (WC)
Monica Puig v Kaia Kanepi
Saisai Zhang (SE) v Qualifier
Kurumi Nara v Klara Koukalova (6)
Roberta Vinci (9) v Olivia Rogowska (WC)
Jana Cepelova v Annika Beck
Heather Watson v Magdalena Rybarikova
Monica Niculescu v Sloane Stephens (5)
Alison Riske (8) v Christina McHale
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni v Bojana Jovanovski
Daniela Hantuchova (WC) v Qualifier
Zarina Diyas (2) v Qualifier