Hobart TAS, Australia, 14 January 2015 | AAP

Australian Casey Dellacqua will fight for a quarterfinal berth in the Hobart International when she meets Italy’s Karin Knapp.

The pair will take to centre court on Wednesday where top-seed Dellacqua will be the favourite against the world No.51.

But despite being 22 rungs higher in the rankings, Dellacqua is expecting a challenge.

“She’s a big hitter of the ball and the court is playing pretty fast so you have to be ready, you have to be on your toes and you have to be switched on,” Dellacqua said of Knapp.

“I’m going to have to be ready to go from the get-go.”

In her first-round win against America’s Lauren Davis, Dellacqua struggled through what she later described as a lack of focus, to prevail 6-4 1-6 6-4.

Right-hander Knapp is contesting her third Hobart International but has never progressed past the first round.

Also on court on Wednesday is second-seed, Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas, who plays Slovak wildcard Daniela Hantuchova.