The 2011 Australian Open Women’s qualifying singles event begins on Thursday 13 January at 10am local time in Melbourne. The qualifying event is scheduled to be completed on Saturday 15 January and is played at the same venue as the main event, unlike Wimbledon.
The qualifying matches are best-of-3 tiebreak sets. The final set is an advantage set so there is no tiebreak. If the set score is tied at 6 games all, just like the final set in the main draw of this tournament, the players continue to play until one player gains a 2 game advantage.
There are 12 spots in the main draw of the Australian Open allocated to qualifiers. The qualifiers have the opportunity to really improve their ranking because the Grand Slam tournaments offer the most ranking points. A qualifier earns 55 points more than a direct acceptance into the main singles draw does if they both lose in the 1st round!
There are 96 spots in the qualifying draw of which 8 were wild cards (WC) and 88 direct acceptances. There are 24 seeds in the qualifying which means that the highest 24 ranked players at the cut-off date are seeded to meet each other in the “Qualifying Round”. A seeded player occupies one of every 4 spots in the draw.
The “Qualifying Round” is the round that decides which players qualify for the main draw, because the winner of that round qualifies. OnCourt Advantage will be following the Australian Open including the qualifying results, so visit here regularly and ask any questions you would like to know about this tournament or anything about tennis.
There are six Australian women in the qualifying draw courtesy of being awarded wild cards by Tennis Australia for local players. In the draw below “AUS” is added to the name of the six Australians. Two qualifying wild cards were awarded to non-Australians; Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and 2010 Australian Open junior singles champion Irina Khromacheva of Russia.
Players who lose in the 3rd round of qualifying receive 45 ranking points more than a direct acceptance who loses her 1st round match. Players who lose in the 2nd round of qualifying receive 35 ranking points more than a direct acceptance who loses her 1st round match.
The seeds do not receive a BYE in the 1st round of the qualifying event. All players must win three matches in a row in order to qualify. The qualifying draws are different to main draws because these events do not play off until there is one undefeated player. Therefore, the No.1 seed and the No.2 seed are not separated at the opposite ends of the draw. All 24 seeds are just listed down the draw. The 24 seeds are bolded in the draw below.
Pictured above is 2010 Australian Open semi finalist Li Na just after she has made contact with the ball for this forehand drive during the January 2011 Hong Kong Tennis Classic. The 28-year-old from China achieved her career high ranking of No.9 on 23 August 2010 after achieving her career best Grand Slam singles result at the 2010 Australian Open and making the 2010 Wimbledon quarter finals for the 2nd time.
The draw for the 2011 Australian Open Women’s qualifying singles event is:
- (1) Coco VANDEWEGHE v Aiko NAKAMURA
- Olga SAVCHUK v (WC) Irina KHROMACHEVA
- Sesil KARATANTCHEVA v (WC) Monika WEJNERT-AUS
- Ryoko FUDA v (13) Misaki DOI
- (2) Anne KEOTHAVONG v Darya KUSTOVA
- Jin-A LEE v Ioana Raluca OLARU
- (WC) Tammi PATTERSON-AUS v Irina-Camelia BEGU
- Eva BIRNEROVA v (17) Tatjana MALEK
- (3) Yung-Jan CHAN v Stephanie FORETZ GACON
- Erika SEMA v Kristyna PLISKOVA
- Nudnida LUANGNA v Vesna MANASIEVA
- Sabine LISICKI v (22) Michaella KRAJICEK
- (4) Zuzana KUCOVA v Kumiko IIJIMA
- Maria IRIGOYEN v Yuliya BEYGELZIMER
- Eirini GEORGATOU v Arina RODIONOVA
- Katie O’BRIEN v (16) Mandy MINELLA
- (5) Anastasiya YAKIMOVA v Stephanie DUBOIS
- Sophie LETCHER-AUS v Severine BELTRAME
- Viktorija RAJICIC-AUS v Vitalia DIATCHENKO
- Iryna KURYANOVICH v (24) Sania MIRZA
- (6) Olivia SANCHEZ v Zarina DIYAS
- Anna FLORIS v Anais LAURENDON
- Oksana KALASHNIKOVA v Ekaterina BYCHKOVA
- Irina FALCONI v (20) Masa ZEC PESKIRIC
- (7) Anastasia PIVOVAROVA v Ashling SUMNER-AUS
- Lauren ALBANESE v Elena BOGDAN
- Elena BOVINA v Eleni DANIILIDOU
- Anne KREMER v (23) Nina BRATCHIKOVA
- (8) Mariana DUQUE MARINO v Corinna DENTONI
- Cagla BUYUKAKCAY v Alexandra PANOVA
- Anna-Lena GROENEFELD v Karolina PLISKOVA
- Stephanie COHEN-ALORO v (14) Jamie HAMPTON
- (9) Nuria LLAGOSTERA VIVES v Ana VRLJIC
- Silvia SOLER ESPINOSA v Julia GLUSHKO
- Ajla TOMLJANOVIC v Florencia MOLINERO
- Madison BRENGLE v (19) Petra MARTIC
- (10) Kurumi NARA v Ekaterina IVANOVA
- Marina ERAKOVIC v Irena PAVLOVIC
- Monique ADAMCZAK-AUS v Isabella HOLLAND-AUS
- Julia COHEN v (18) Arantxa RUS
- (11) Xinyun HAN v Madalina GOJNEA
- Sloane STEPHENS v Liana UNGUR
- Noppawan LERTCHEEWAKARN v Heidi EL TABAKH
- Kathrin WOERLE v (21) Petra CETKOVSKA
- (12) Anna TATISHVILI v Urszula RADWANSKA
- Mariya KORYTTSEVA v Laura THORPE
- Yi-Miao ZHOU v Heather WATSON
- Lesya TSURENKO v (15) Stefanie VOEGELE
Stay tuned to this tennis website for full coverage of every Grand Slam tournament and every major women’s and men’s tennis tournament on the WTA and ATP Tours. Click this link for further details about the Australian Open -> Australian Open 2011: January 12-30.
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photo credit: www.OnCourtAdvantage.com
