The 2016 Hobart International is one of two events on the women’s tour that will be played before the first major of the season, making this week the last available tune-up for the Australian Open. The competition in the 32-player main draw began on Sunday, January 10. Here’s our preview of the upcoming event.
Event Details
Event: Hobart International
Category: WTA International tier
Date: January 10 – 16, 2016
Location: Domain Tennis Centre; Hobart, Australia
The 2016 Hobart Invitational will mark the 23rd year of the tournament, with its first appearance on the tour coming in the 1994 campaign.
With a prize money allotment of $226,750, there won’t be a lot of fat paychecks for most players. Two years ago, only the semifinalists made more than $10,000 U.S. dollars. Only the finalists made more than $20,000, which is less than the amount given to a first-round loser at the Australian Open. The winner of the 2014 event took home $43,000.
The points structure under any of the WTA International tier events on the women’s tour will offer 280 player points towards the winner’s ranking, with 180 points going to the tournament’s runner-up. Semifinalists get 110 points, quarterfinalists 60, and round of 16 players 30 points. First round (round of 32) losers get only one point. Here’s how the breakdown of seeds is going to look:
1 Barthel, Mona GER
2 Doi, Misaki JPN
3 Osaka, Naomi JPN
4 Wolfe, Jarmila AUS
5 Cepede Royg, Veronica PAR
6 Pous-Tio, Laura ESP
7 Allertova, Denisa CZE
8 Cornet, Alizé FRA
9 Niculescu, Monica ROU
10 Mchale, Christina USA
11 Watson, Heather GBR
12 Pereira, Teliana BRA
13 Gasparyan, Margarita RUS
14 Inglis, Maddison AUS
15 Larsson, Johanna SWE
16 Strycova, Barbora CZE
17 Brengle, Madison USA
18 Bertens, Kiki NED
19 Beck, Annika GER
20 Nara, Kurumi JPN
21 Kovinic, Danka MNE
22 Birrell, Kimberly AUS
23 Konta, Johanna GBR
24 Cibulkova, Dominika SVK
25 Van Uytvanck, Alison BEL
26 Witthoeft, Carina GER 62 76(5)
27 Bouchard, Eugenie CAN
28 Mattek-Sands, Bethanie USA
29 Parmentier, Pauline FRA
30 Hibino, Nao JPN
31 Diyas, Zarina KAZ
32 GIORGI, Camila ITA
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Heather Watson def. Madison Brengle – 6-3, 6-4
2014 – Garbine Muguruza def. Klara Zakopalova – 6-4, 6-0
2013 – Elena Vesnina def. Mona Barthel – 6-3, 6-4
2012 – Mona Barthel def. Yanina Wickmayer – 6-1, 6-2
2011 – Jarmila Groth def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands — 6-4, 6-3
Player Info:
Plenty of WTA notables are included in the field this year. Alize Cornet, who defeated Serena Williams at Wimbledon a few years ago, won her first-round match and is in the round of 16. She is a threat at the big tournaments, and she certainly has a shot at lifting the trophy in Hobart. Heather Watson very nearly beat Serena at Wimbledon last year in a tense and close third-round match. She has yet to complete her first match. Barbora Strycova is like her last name – streaky – and she made the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2014. She is a talented but volatile player whose main challenge is always maintaining her composure.
Dominika Cibulkova is one of the biggest names in the field. She’s a former Australian Open finalist and someone who has made the semifinals at the French Open. Alison Van Uytvanck made a surprising run to the French Open quarterfinals last year as a total unknown. Camila Giorgi is a huge hitter – no one takes a bigger cut at the ball than she does – but she has trouble keeping the ball between the lines.
Yet, the star of the event is Eugenie Bouchard. She endured a miserable 2015 season in which she struggled at nearly every tournament she played, until she got to the U.S. Open and won three matches. Before her fourth match, though, she slipped and fell in an off-court setting. She suffered a concussion and had to withdraw from the tournament. She has been entangled in a battle with the United States Tennis Association ever since, but the new season calls on her to focus on tennis.
Domain Tennis Centre
The Domain Tennis Centre originally opened in December of 1964, and has received multiple makeovers in the past 51 years. What began as a 21-court complex has undergone various surface changes, today’s surface being plexicushion. The main stadium court has a capacity of 2,500, which is the trade-off for a lot of box seats and VIP suites.
