Australian wildcards Bernard Tomic and Jelena Dokic face tough battles to start the summer in style after receiving unlucky draws at the Brisbane International.
Tomic, last year’s Australian Open boys’ champion, will make his main draw debut on the senior tour with an extremely challenging first-round encounter against Fernando Verdasco, the world No.16 who recently led Spain to the Davis Cup title.
But while the 16-year-old Gold Coaster’s hopes of gaining some important ATP ranking points look bleak, tournament organisers will be pleased the match against the fifth seed guarantees he’ll play at a packed-out Pat Rafter Arena.
While Tomic is much hyped in Australia as our next great men’s hope, it will be a baptism of fire against Verdasco, the boyfriend of women’s drawcard Ana Ivanovic who holds no fears for the exciting teenager.
“I’ve never heard about him,” Verdasco said after Saturday’s draw.
The winner will set up a likely quarterfinal with American Mardy Fish on the same side of the draw where top seed Novak Djokovic is to play Czech Tomas Berdych in the same round.
Second seed Jo Wilfried-Tsonga will have a major fight to get through to the semifinals after Cypriot wildcard Marcos Baghdatis and French compatriot Richard Gasquet were drawn to meet him in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively.
Dokic, ramping up her comeback to the WTA tour after years in the wilderness, will also play on the 5500-seat centre court after drawing former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo.
While now ranked 24th and seeded fifth for the women’s tournament, which starts with main draw matches on Sunday, the fit-again Frenchwoman looms as a favourite for the inaugural event.
Mauresmo has looked strong in practice and believes she’s put a number of stalled comebacks behind her following a strong off-season of training in Europe under new coach Hugo Lecoq.
The 29 year old believes her best isn’t past her and can climb back to the No.1 ranking she held in 2004.
“I’m continuing to play tennis because I think I can still do well and win tournaments,” she said.
“It’s been almost two years since I’ve held a trophy and I kind of miss it and I look forward to tournaments like here and Sydney before Melbourne.”
Mauresmo has a 2-1 record over Dokic but their fourth match will be a far cry from their last meeting, on clay on a freezing Polish day in 2003 when the Serbian-Australian was still a force in the women’s game.
“I haven’t seen [Dokic] play for a while, so it’s going to be a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
Another Australian wildcard, 16-year-old Brisbane girl Monika Wejnert, will find the going difficult after being pitted against third seed Marion Bartoli.
In her own tough draw, Mauresmo is projected to meet the top-seeded Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.
Australia’s leading hope Sam Stosur has drawn Russian eighth seed Maria Kirilenko in the first round.
Video: Queensland Tennis Centre Opening
Photo gallery: Brisbane International Draw Ceremony