Qualifying preview: Ashleigh Barty set for Hobart return

5 January 2017, by hobartinternational.com.au

Former Hobart International semifinalist Kurumi Nara and Australian comeback star Ashleigh Barty feature in the 2017 singles qualifying draw.

Nara, the world No.76, is the top seed. The Japanese player is returning to Hobart for a third consecutive year. She reached the semifinals on debut in 2015 and qualified last year. Nara begins her quest to secure another main draw berth against Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska, who is competing in Hobart for a seventh time.

Barty, on the comeback from a brief foray into professional cricket, has received a wildcard into the draw. The Australian talent impressed at the Brisbane International this week, pushing world No.1 Angelique Kerber to three sets in the second round. The 20-year-old faces Korean Su Jeong Jang in the first round in her return to the Domain Tennis Centre. This is Barty’s third visit to Hobart, where she lost in the main draw first round as a wildcard entry in 2012 and 2013.

Fellow Australian wildcard entrant Storm Sanders has better memories at the event – it is where she scored her first WTA main draw win. In 2014 she upset then world No.39 Peng Shuai of China for a career-best win. The 22-year-old faces Czech Tereza Martincova in the opening round.

Also featured in the draw is Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh, a former world No.1 doubles player, and Turkish star Cagla Buyukakcay, who made headlines in 2016 when she became the first woman from her country to win a WTA title, score a Grand Slam main draw win and play in the Olympics. American Nicole Gibbs and Japan’s Nao Hibino are also ones to watch.

> View the qualifying draw
Round one order of play