Update 1:27 pm. Sam Stosur will have to do it the hard way if she is to be the inaugural name etched on the Evonne Goolagong-Cawley trophy after a tough draw today.
Top seed Stosur finds herself sharing a stacked top half of the draw with former No.1s and Grand Slam champions Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic.
Stosur will open her campaign on Monday night against Belarussian Anastasiya Yakimova but her task could become considerably more difficult after that with her 2009 Brisbane conqueror, Lucie Safarova looming as a likely second-round obstacle before a likely marquee quarterfinal against 2010 champion, Clijsters.
Clijsters will potentially have to negotiate a second-round showdown with the highest ranked unseeded player, Ivanovic, if she is to reach the quarters.
The news was better for Australia’s top men’s hope with eighth seed Bernard Tomic drawn to face Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
Top seed Andy Murray will launch his Brisbane campaign against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan with a likely quarterfinal against unseeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis or fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan.
The news wasn’t so good for two of Tomic’s countrymen. Matthew Ebden will open against 2009 men’s champion Radek Stepanek, while Marinko Matosevic will face a resurgent Tommy Haas.
Of the remaining Australian wildcards, Benjamin Mitchell faces a qualifier first up while fellow teen James Duckworth meets Wimbledon’s marathon man Nicolas Mahut.
Should Casey Dellacqua down Serb Bojana Jovanovski in round 1, women’s fourth seed Serena Williams would be her likely second-round foe, while Olivia Rogowska would have to rate her chances against unseeded Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.