Australian Open 2011 draw released

January 13, 2011

The draw for the first Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia has been released and Maria is seeded No.14 and will play Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand in the 1st round This match will be played on Monday or Tuesday.

Maria has played Tanasugarn 3 times before and leads the series 3-0. Below are the matches they have played:

Tokyo 2004 - Maria won 6-2 6-3
San Diego 2007 - Maria won 6-1 6-3
Doha 2008 - Maria won 6-2 6-2

The first seed Maria can meet is No.20 seed Kaia Kanepi in the third round. No.4 seed Venus Williams could be a possible opponent in the 4th round. No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka and Sydney winner Na Li are in Maria's quarter. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Justine Henin could be possible semi-final opponents. No.2 seed Vera Zvonareva and No.3 seed Kim Clijsters round off the draw in the bottom half.

This is Maria's 8th Australian Open and her best result was winning it 3 years ago.

Resources : http://www.mariasharapova.com/