For another 4 of those 12 it’s their first time in the main draw of the Australian Open:

Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria, Jessica Kirkland of the United States, Nannan Liu of China and Angela Haynes of the United States.

 

And then there are Elena Baltacha of Great Britain, Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic and Zsofia Gubacsi of Hungary who hope to reach further than they have by qualifying.

 

Then last but not least Ting Li of China and Meilen Tu of the United States just hope to improve their rankings so they will reach the main draw without having to qualify next year.

 

The short end of the straw however seems to have been drawn by Sesil Karatantcheva, Jessica Kirkland and Nannan Liu who will play Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva respectively.

 

Australian Open final round qualifying:

 

Sesil Karatantcheva (BUL, 1) d. Shahar Peer (ISR, 19) 6-4, 7-5

 

Main draw match:

Sesil Karatantcheva (BUL) – Maria Sharapova (RUS, 4)

 

Jessica Kirkland (USA) d. Yoon-Jeong Cho (KOR) 6-2, 6-4

 

Main draw match:

Jessica Kirkland (USA) – Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS, 5)

 

Michaëlla Krajicek (NED) d. Galina Voskoboeva (RUS,14) 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-0

 

Main draw match:

Michaëlla Krajicek (NED) – Stephanie Foretz (FRA)

 

Nannan Liu (CHN) d. Yuka Yoshida (JPN) 6-4, 6-3

 

Main draw match:

Nannan Liu (CHN) – Vera Zvonareva (RUS, 9)

 

Elena Baltacha (GBR) d. Teryn Ashley (USA) 6-3, 6-3

 

Main draw match:

Elena Baltacha (GBR) – Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

 

Angela Haynes (USA, 6) d. Elise Tamaela (NED) 6-4, 6-3

 

Main draw match:

Angela Haynes (USA) - Aiko Nakamura (JPN)

 

Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE,7) d. Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN,17) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

 

Main draw match:

Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) – Dally Randriatefy (MAD)

 

Zsofia Gubacsi (HUN) d. Jennifer Hopkins (USA,13) 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-1

 

Main draw match:

Zsofia Gubacsi (HUN) – Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA)

 

Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR, 16) d. Lina Krasnoroutskaya (RUS,9) 6-4, 6-1

 

Main draw match:

Anastasiya Yakimova (RUS) – Lisa Raymond (USA, 25)

 

Ting Li (CHN) d. Sandra Kloesel (GER) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1

 

Main draw match:

Ting Li (CHN) – Marta Domachowska (POL)

 

Meilen Tu (USA) d. Sunitha Rao (USA) 6-2, 6-3

 

Main draw match:

Meilen Tu (USA) – Klara Koukalova (CZE)

 

Aiko Nakamura (JPN,12) d. Lenka Nemeckova (CZE,20) 7-6(3), 7-6(5)

 

Main draw match:

Aiko Nakamura (JPN) - Angela Haynes (USA)