Defending men’s champion Roger Federer has confirmed that he will be kicking off his 2016 tennis seasons in Brisbane once again. Federer has agreed to headline the event in Queensland for the third straight year and has made the finals in both of his appearances.
Defending women’s champion Maria Sharapova will also be returning to Brisbane to defend her title. Kei Nishikori and Australia’s own Sam Stosur will also be making their season debuts in Brisbane.
Federer and Sharapova’s history in Brisbane
The Swiss number one has had two appearances in Brisbane. 2014 was his maiden appearance making the final. He did not drop a set until the semifinals where he dropped a second set tiebreak against Jeremy Chardy. He fell in the final to Lleyton Hewitt in front of the Aussie’s home crowd in three sets.
This year, Federer once again started with a bye but received an opening match scare against wildcard John Millman. He dropped the opening set before taking it in three and cruised through his next two matches which included a win over “Baby Fed” Grigor Dimitrov. He took out big-serving Canadian, Milos Raonic, in the final in three sets for his 1000th career win.
World number three Maria Sharapova has had a strong history at the Brisbane International with a semifinals appearance and her victory this year. She was set to play there in 2013 but had to withdraw due to a collarbone injury. The following year, she was seeded third. She took out Caroline Garcia in her first round match before getting to the quarterfinals via walkover. She dropped the first set against Kaia Kanepi before coming back to get to the semifinals where she lost to rival Serena Williams.
This year, Sharapova ran riot in her opening three matches. She dropped a combined nine games in these matches against Yaroslava Shvedova, Carla Suarez Navarro, and Elina Svitolina respectively. The Russian defeated Ana Ivanovic this year in three tight sets.
