WTA Tour : Ons Jabeur is top seed at Adelaide; Bianca Andreescu to meet Garbie Muguruza in first round

Adelaide : World No. 2 Ons Jabeur will be the top seed as the Tunisian starts her campaign for a superb start to a new season at the Adelaide International tennis tournament starting here on Sunday.

Jabeur has received a first-round bye and will face either Sorana Cirstea or a qualifier in the second round as per the draw for the event. Four of the current Top 10 players join five Grand Slam champions in the main draw of the Adelaide International 1, which was released on Saturday here.

The main draw of the WTA 500 event will start on Sunday: If things go as planned, Jabeur could have a rematch of the 2022 Wimbledon final against Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.

However, Rybakina, who defeated Jabeur for her first Grand Slam title, has a tough first-round test against No.5 seed Danielle Collins, according to a report on the WTA Tour’s official website. in the second quarter of the draw, No.3 seed Daria Kasatkina, the World No.8, kicks off her campaign against a qualifier in this section.

Former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka is also in this quarter. If Azarenka can beat a qualifier in her first-round match, she will face either No.6 seed Anett Kontaveit or 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year Zheng Qinwen in the second round.

The third quarter holds a number of first-round blockbusters while No.4 seed Veronika Kudermetova, ranked a career-high World No.9, will meet Amanda Anisimova in the opening round.

Also in this quarter, two Grand Slam champions will face off immediately when former World No.1 Garbie Muguruza takes on 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu in an eye-opening first-round showdown.