27 December 2013 | Tennis Queensland

Australians Ashleigh Barty and Jarmila Gajdosova will spearhead Australia’s hopes in the Brisbane International 2014 women’s qualifying, which begun this morning at 10 am.

Along with fellow wildcard entrants Storm Sanders and Arina Rodionova, the Aussie quarted will be hoping they can win their way through qualifying and into the main draw. But to do so they will have to find a way past a talented field that includes top seed Yaroslava Shvedova, Chanelle Scheepers and Wimbledon 2013 doubles champion Su-Wei Hsieh.

Gajdosova, a former top 25 player, looms as a potential threat in the draw. After missing much of 2013 with glandular fever, the heavy-hitting right-hander returned to the tour in October only to sustain a shoulder injury that effectively ended her season. She played her first competitive matches at the Australian Open Wildcard Play-off in December and will be hoping that those matches will set her up to challenge this week in qualifying.

> View the full women’s qualifying draw

Over the coming three days, the 32-player qualifying field will be whittled down to just four players who will move into the women’s main draw, which features Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.

Gates open at the Queensland Tennis Centre at 9:45 am and entry is free with the first women’s qualifying matches beginning at 10 am on the outside courts.

> View the order of play

> Brisbane International 2014 tickets are on sale now

– See more at: http://www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/2013/12/gajdosova-barty-in-qualifying-mix#sthash.w3gGuiMM.dpuf