WTA Previews: Kerber, 6 of Top 10 in Sydney; Ho-Hum in Hobart

APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEY
Sydney, Australia; surface: hard
ADHEREL
Seeds: Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Johanna Konta, Elina Svitolina, Elena Vesnina, Roberta Vinci

Floaters: Laura Siegemund, Sam Stosur, Irina-Camelia Begu, Monica Puig, Belinda Bencic, Sloane Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe, Caroline Wozniacki

Notes: Six of the Top 10 in attendance…Lots of unseeded floaters including a former No. 1 and a Slam winner…Tough starts for (3) Cibulkova vs. last year’s breakout player Siegemund, (5) Kuznetsova vs. Begu (winner to meet Stosur), (7) Svitolina vs. the Olympic gold medal winner Puig (winner to face Bencic), (9) Vinci vs. Stephens, and (8) Vesnina vs. Vandeweghe (winner to meet Wozniacki)…Bencic and Bouchard received wildcards…Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova withdrew from the event…Kuznetsova beat Puig in last year’s final…Former champs in the field are Kuznetsova (2016) and Radwanska (2013).

HOBART INTERNATIONAL
Hobart, Australia; surface: hard

Seeds: Kiki Bertens, Anastasija Sevastova, Monica Niculescu, Misaki Doi, Alize Cornet, Kristina Mladenovic, Naomi Osaka, Sara Errani

Floaters: Annika Beck, Francesca Schiavone, Andrea Petkovic, Jelena Jankovic, Shelby Rogers

Notes: Seeds Alison Riske and Ana Konjah (foot injury) pulled from the tournament after the draw was made…No Top 20 players in the draw, and only Bertens in the Top 30…A number of tough first-rounders for seeds include (1) Bertens vs. Beck, (9) Osaka vs. Petkovic, (3) Niculescu vs. the former No. 1 Jankovic, and (2) Sevastova vs. the upset-minded Rogers…Wildcards went to Aussies Lizette Cabrera and Jaimee Fourlis, and the former French winner Schiavone…Cornet, the only former champ in the field, rolled over Genie Bouchard in last year’s final.