AFTER back-to-back wins from Belgium’s Elise Mertens, then-ranked world number 56 (now 14th) Sofia Kenin won her maiden title in Hobart, defeating 25 year-old Slovakian, Anna Schmiedlova. With Mertens returning and the clear standout in the $250k tournament, the number one seed will also be joined by a host of players ranked in the top 60, including 2016 winner, Alize Cornet.

FAVOURITE:

Two-time winner and world number 17, Mertens returns to Hobart to try her luck at a third title, ranked 19 places higher than her nearest rival at the tournament. Having won at Hobart in both 2017 and 2018, Mertens did not compete last year. She won just the one WTA title in 2019, but maintained a top 20 spot at years end, with the goal of trying to break into the top 10 for the first time in 2020. Mertens traditionally starts the year well, having opted for Sydney instead of Hobart last year, Mertens ran into the red-hot Ash Barty there, but then turned heads with a strong performance at Doha. Mertens defeated top 10 players, Kiki Bertens, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep on the way to the Qatar Open title, and if she plays with the same form here, will be hard to stop.

CONTENDERS:

One of the most exciting up-and-comers is 20-year-old Kazakhstan player, Elena Rybakina. Ranked 36th in the world, and currently at her career high ranking, Rybakina had a breakout year in 2019, winning her maiden title at Bucharest and making the Nanchang final. Coming into the year, Rybakina was ranked 191st in the world having been a lowly 425th two years ago, but now the young Kazak could even be staring at a seeding for the Australian Open if she can take out Hobart. The fact she still has so much to offer, expect her to really throw the gauntlet down to Mertens in a bid to steal the crown.

Veronika Kudermetova is a 22-year old Russian who is likely to start as the fourth seed in Hobart, but has greater upside than some of the others around her. With her career high ranking at number 39 in the world, the current 40th ranked player enjoyed a promising 2019 season. She might not have won a title, but finished with a 48-26 win-loss record, and knocked off some top 10 players, including WTA Finals runner-up Elina Svitolina, in October, and Belinda Bencic in October. She dominated a 125K tournament in Mexico last March and showed she had no right to be competing at that level. In 2019, Kudermetova made a quarter final at Shenzhen, before making the first round of the Australian Open, but going down to Kenin in three sets.

DARK HORSE:

The definition of a dark horse is someone who you cannot afford to sleep on, and former Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova is just that. While the 34-year-old’s best is behind her, you have to have elite traits to win a Grand Slam, which she did not once, but twice at the US Open in 2004, and Roland Garros in 2009. The Russian will not reach those heights again, but in a 250K tournament, Kuznetsova would be a good chance to show some of the young guns how it is done, and given her CV, more fool to anyone who underestimates what she is still capable of – after all she remains 53rd overall and is a top 50 player. An opponent seeded players hate drawing during Grand Slams.

ROUGHIE:

Plenty of players who could fall into this bracket, but it is worth mentioning former winner Cornet. Currently ranked 59th in the world, Cornet will not enter the tournament as a seeded player, but could do a fair bit of damage to those at the top end. Cornet is one of those players you can rely on to just get the job done if you are not on your game, and while she was once practically a top 10 player – career high ranking of 11 a decade ago as a teenager – she never quite reached the heights that some had envisioned for her. Still, the 29-year-old remains a threat in every tournament she plays, and it is the first time in eight years she sits outside the top 50, so beware.