Nicole Vaidisova Leads Gold Coast Main Draw

The first tournament of the 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tennis season begins on Sunday in Gold Coast, Australia.

Although the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts is only a Tier III tournament, this year’s event features a stellar field of former top 10 players, eager to shake off the rust accumulated during the two month off-season.

Nicole Vaidisova is the top seed in the main draw, followed by Russians Nadia Petrova and Dinara Safina.

In all, eight members of the top 20 have traveled to Gold Coast to begin preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam which begins in two weeks at Melbourne Park.

Top seed Vaidisova will face pressure not only on the tennis courts in Australia, but also in the press room as the media tries to determine the truth behind the rumor of her pending marriage to ATP player Radek Stepanek. Although neither player has confirmed their upcoming nuptials, the Bradenton Herald reported a fortnight ago that they had applied for a marriage license. Vaidisova is scheduled to begin her pursuit of a seventh career title against Australian wild card Casey Dellacqua.

Second seed Nadia Petrova knows that she needs a quick start to a successful season, with a berth in Beijing on the line. The Russian Tennis Federation will only be allowed to bring a maximum of four singles players to the Olympics and Petrova could face stiff competition from world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Anna Chakvetadze, and Elena Dementieva. Petrova will play her first match against Italy’s Tathiana Garbin, who reached the semifinals last season before losing to a now-retired Martina Hingis.

Defending champion Dinara Safina continues to be a consistent presence in the top 20 on the Tour. The 2007 season was the best of her career, winning the singles title at Gold Coast and breaking into the top 10. Duplicating her results will not be easy for the Russian baseliner as a dangerous lower seed, Shahar Peer of Israel, lurks in her quarter of the draw.

Fourth seed Patty Schnyder posted a disappointing 2007 season, but now that the pressure of being Swiss No. 2 behind Martina Hingis is over, she may be able to refocus and find the form that led her to the title in 1999 and 2005. Schnyder’s draw places her in the same quarter as former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, another woman trying to put the past year behind her.

Other players to watch in the draw include Sybille Bammer, Francesca Schiavone, and newcomer Agnes Szavay.

As a Tier III event, the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts features a main draw of thirty-two singles players and sixteen doubles teams competing for $175,000 dollars.

Russia’s Dinara Safina defeated Switzerland’s Martina Hingis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the 2007 singles final.

For more information on the 2008 Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts, please visit www.australianwomenshardcourts.com.au/. Live scoring, an image gallery, and the main draw is available at the official website.