World number two Petra Kvitova begins his 2012 season against unorthodox Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the Hopman Cup.
2011 proved to be a bit of a fairytale season for the 21 year old Kvitova, who hails from the small town of Bilovec in Czech Republic. Beginning the season as a relative unknown, she ended it as a household name after winning Wimbledon, the WTA Championships, helping her country to the Fed Cup title and climbing to number two in the rankings.
With her booming serve and forehand she's a threat to anyone on grass courts or indoors but she needs to improve her game on the slower hard courts which is why we wouldn't put her among the favourites for the Australian Open later this month.
Kvitova can be wildly erratic at times so it'll be interesting to see how long it takes the rust to shake off this week. Pironkova is an awkward first opponent, the Bulgarian hits very flat, almost slapping the ball and it's hard to settle into a rhythm against her.
However Kvitova has won all three of their past matches, twice in 2008 and then 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year.
Prediction: Kvitova in three.
