MELBOURNE – World number one Caroline Wozniacki faces a likely early test against seven-time majors champion Justine Henin if she is to go on to break her Grand Slam drought at the Australian Open. In the official draw made on Friday, Wozniacki is projected to meet the former world number one and last year’s finalist in the quarter-finals.
The 20-year-old Dane reached the top ranking in October last year with the consistency of her performances outweighing her failure to win a major trophy. She gets her big chance at the season-opening major, with 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams missing with a foot injury after dominating the Australian Open with five titles in the last eight years.
Wozniacki has begun the season disastrously with a straight sets loss in her first official match to Slovakia’s 32nd-ranked Dominika Cibulkova in Sydney, after losing to world number two Vera Zvonareva and Open favourite Kim Clijsters at exhibition events in Hong Kong and Thailand.
Wozniacki will launch her fourth Australian Open campaign against the world’s top doubles player Gisela Dulko of Argentina, and could face Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the fourth round. US Open champion Kim Clijsters was placed in the bottom half of the women’s singles draw away from Wozniacki in the official draw.
Third seed Clijsters, the 2004 finalist, will open against another former Australian Open finalist, Dinara Safina of Russia. Clijsters leads Safina — who has returned to the tour after prolonged back problems — 7-2. Clijsters was to face China’s Li Na in the final of the Sydney International on Friday, playing for her 41st career title.Russian Zvonareva, who reached the final at last year’s Wimbledon and US Opens, begins her Australian quest against Austrian Sybille Bammer.
American fourth seed Venus Williams, who has made just one final appearance in her past 11 Australian Opens, was drawn in Wozniacki’s top half of the draw and will take on Italian Sara Errani in the first round. Li Na, a surprise semi-finalist at last year’s Australian Open, will play Sweden’s Sofia Ardvisson first up, and is in the same quarter of the draw as Venus Williams. Australia’s big hope Samantha Stosur — last year’s French Open finalist and the fifth seed — is targeting a semi-final against Zvonareva. But she first has to negotiate American wild card Lauren Davis and possibly 25th-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, a winner of the Brisbane International this month, in the third round.
