Serena Williams made it clear she was hell-bent on keeping her 2012 season to just four losses after opening her Brisbane campaign against fellow American Varvara Lepchenko in ruthless style on Sunday.
Rest assured, the tournament’s third seed will be in no mood to drop to none-from-one for 2013 when she takes on elegant Frenchwoman Alize Cornet first up tonight.
Williams did not drop a set in beating five top-10 opponents at the season-ending championships in Istanbul, and with Wimbledon, the London Olympics and the US Open also under her belt, she is unquestionably the form player to beat coming into the Australia’s summer swing.
She has played Cornet twice before only dropping a set four years ago in their Beijing Olympics clash.
Cornet, a former world No.11, is still only 22, but her career-best Grand Slam result to date was a fourth-round finish at the 2009 Australian Open.
Following Williams vs Cornet, perennial Australian favourite Lleyton Hewitt will attempt to win his first match at the Brisbane International when he opens against 2009 champion and fellow over-30s stalwart Radek Stepanek.
They’ve played each other in three of the four Grand Slam events, with Hewitt winning all three, however Stepanek clinched their only other encounter on hardcourts in Shanghai last year before going on to spearhead the Czech Republic’s memorable triumph over Spain in the Davis Cup final.
Gritty Italian and world No.6 Sara Errani had a watershed season in 2012 reaching a French Open final, US Open semifinal and Australian Open quarterfinal. She opens today’s day session on Pat Rafter Arena against last year’s Brisbane finalist and former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova. Errani won their only clash last year although she will be working to close the gap on a 2-4 head-to-head record against the statuesque Slovak.
At 30 years of age, Spaniard Tommy Robredo has 10 years on his higher-ranked foe, American Ryan Harrison. He also tilts the tour tile ledger 10-0 in his favour, however the former world No.5 will be up against it taking on a player who has won through three rounds of qualifying.
Australian wildcard Matt Ebden will close out the day session on Pat Rafter Arena when he meets talented Belgian 22-year-old David Goffin, a player who Roger Federer lauded after being pushed in their fourth-round French Open clash last year. Ebden will hope to emulate his 2011 Brisbane efforts where he won through three rounds of qualifying before going on to reach the quarterfinals.