Petra Kvitova will begin her 2012 season at the Apia International in Sydney starting on January 8th which contains nine of the world's top ten.
The Sydney event never fails to be super strong and much to the relief of the organisers, the upgrading of the Brisbane event the week before to WTA Premier status, has not dented the strength of the field.
Maria Sharapova is the only member of the top ten not competing in Sydney, with Kim Clijsters the other main omission. The top two seeds will be Caroline Wozniacki and Wimbledon champion Kvitova.
And even more tantalisingly, results in Sydney often have a strong bearing on the more important events to come in Melbourne Park over the following fortnight. Last year, the two Sydney finalists were Clijsters and Na Li and who were the finalists at the Aussie Open ? You guessed it, Clijsters and Li.
Kvitova in particular is relishing the onset of the 2012 season after her incredible run last year. The Czech stormed to the Wimbledon title last summer and cannot wait to get back on the green, green grass of London again.
"I want to prove that I am able to play at a high level during the whole season with concentration on Wimbledon and Olympics - it is something special for me as you can have it only once in your lifetime - plus I get to play on grass within one month at the place which I love so much !" the Czech told Sky Sports.
