Andrea Petkovic made a solid start to the tournament when she beat Kristina Barrois in the first round 6-1,6-4. Belarusian World No.1 Victoria Azarenka on the other hand plays her first match in the tournament today.
Petkovic - the hope of the host nation, was injured in the Australian Open and plays her first tournament since then. She started the season in Brisbane where she reached the quarterfinals. In her only other tournament this year in Sydney, she was knocked out by Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round itself.
The World No.1 had started the year brilliantly when she won the Sydney International beating French open champion Li Na in the final. She followed that win with her first Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open. By doing that, she became the first-ever player to jump from World No.3 to World No.1 directly. She continued to play like a champion in the following months as she won the WTA title at Doha and then at Indian Wells too. She did however, lose in the quarterfinal of the Miami Sony Ericsson Open to Marion Bartoli. Her win/loss record stands at 26/1.
Their head to head record stands at 1-0 in favour of the World No.1 and judging by form and the fact that Petkovic is returning from a long injury lay-off, Azarenka is the clear favorite to win this one.