Week #2 preview: Sydney, Hobart

Sydney (AUS), Premier, $600,000
The first Premier tournament of the season features an excellent draw with 9 of the Top-10 players. Only Venus Williams is missing. This will be the first chance to watch WTA #1 Serena Williams, Safina, Kuznetsova, Wozniacki, Dementieva, etc. and evaluate their chances at the Australian Open. Unfortunately former WTA #1 Justine Henin had to withdraw with a left gluteal strain, so we will not be able to watch the highly expected Williams vs Henin confrontation.

Hobart (AUS), International, $220,000
Another preparation tournament on the way to Australian Open takes place in Hobart. Despite not having any Top-25 players, the draw is not bad at all as most of players are in the Top-60. Spanish Anabel Medina and Israeli Shahar Peer are the top seeds, but other big names include Jie Zheng, Gisela Dulko, Sania Mirza, Alize Cornet, Jelena Dokic and Alicia Molik.