A few days before the Australian Open I found some interesting things regarding the winners of the Australian Open warm-up events and their performance at the Australian Open that year. There are four warm-up events which pave the way for the players to get into some form for the first Grand Slam of the year:

• Brisbane
• Auckland
• Hobart
• Sydney

Let's have a look at how well this year's winners performed at the Australian Open and how they compared to the winners of previous years and their performances at the Australian Open that year. Please note that for this article I used the results of Sydney and Auckland from 1988 onwards, since it was from 1988 that all the players played from the first round of the 128 player draw for the Grand Slam.

BRISBANE

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: quarterfinals
• 2012: Kaia Kanepi won Brisbane and lost in the second round of the Australian Open

The Brisbane tournament started way back in 1997, and was known as Gold Coast back then. The name of the tournament was changed in 2009 to the Brisbane International. This year the Brisbane event went Premier. The first ever winner of the tournament back in 1997 was Elena Likhovtseva who defeated Ai Sugiyama in the final. Elena Likhovtseva could not carry on the momentum to the Australian Open and lost in the first round, while Sugiyama lost in the second round of the Australian Open that year.

The best result a Brisbane winner so far had at the Australian Open was a quarterfinal showing. Three players achieved that feat. Venus Williams was the first Brisbane player to reach the Australian Open quarterfinal back in 2002 when she won the Brisbane event. Venus lost to 8th-seeded Monica Seles in three sets. Patty Schnyder in 2005 and Petra Kvitova in 2011 followed in the footsteps of Venus Willaims and went on to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after winning the event in the respective years. Schnyder lost in three sets to 19th-seeded Nathalie Dechy, while Kvitova lost in straight sets to second-seeded Vera Zvonareva.

Kaia Kanepi won the Brisbane event this year. Based on the history of the Brisbane winners and their performance at the Australian Open, Kanepi's chances of making it out the second round were 67%.

Twice in the tournament's 15-year history has the Brisbane winner lost in the second round, Kanepi with her second round showing this year made it thrice in the 16-year history of the tournament. Many dubbed Kanepi as the dark horse for the Australian Open after her strong showing at the Brisbane event, however, Kanepi could not carry that momentum and fell victim of Ekaterina Makarova, who would go on to crush Serena Williams, five-time Australian Open champion, in the fourth round.

Brisbane winner has yet to move beyond the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open, and with the event going Premier this year, this statistic will for sure change in the years to come. Although, I had hoped that this statistic will change this year since the field at Brisbane was very strong with the likes of Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Samantha Stosur.

AUCKLAND

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: semifinals
• 2012: Zheng Jie won Auckland and lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open

The ASB Classic event has been going on for quite some time. However, as mentioned earlier, I for this article, have taken the results from 1988 onwards since it was from 1988 that at a Grand Slam event all the players had to play from the very first round in a draw of 128 players.

From 1988 onwards, in the past 24 years only one Auckland winner has made it past the fourth round and she went on to reach the semifinals. She was Elena Dementieva back in 2009. Dementieva won the ASB Classic event and then went on to win the Medibank International in Sydney in 2009. Going into the Australian Open that year Dementieva was one of the three women who had a chance to grab the top spot based on their showing at the Australain Open, however, she was defeated in straight sets in the semifinals by the eventual champion Serena Williams.

Zheng Jie won the ASB Classic event this year by defeating Flavia Pennetta in the final (Pennetta retired in the final). Entering into the Australian Open, Zheng had only 21% chances of making it out of the third round based on the history of the performance of the past winners of ASB Classic at the Australian Open that year. Zheng carried that momentum into the Australian Open and defeated 23rd seed Vinci in the second round for a third round meeting with 9th seeded Marion Bartoli. It seemed Zheng's run would end since Bartoli was in great form, but Zheng proved too good for Bartoli and made quick work of Bartoli by defeating the 9th seed in straight sets for a place in the fourth round of the Australian Open. However, Zheng lost in the fourth round making it 24th time in the past 25 years that the Auckland winner failed to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals. However, all the credit goes to Zheng for her brave performance at the Australian Open where she routed two seeded players, one of whom was a Top 10 player.

HOBART

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: quarterfinals
• 2012: Mona Barthel won Hobart and lost in the third round of the Australian Open

Hobart event was first organized back in 1994. Mana Endo was the first ever winner of Hobart. She defeated Rachel McQuillan in the final. Endo went on to reach the second round of the Australian Open, while McQuillan made it to the third round of the Australian Open that year.

During the 18-year history of the tournament, only six players have made it out of the third round. While four of those lost in the fourth round, only two players, in the tournament’s 18-year history, have made it to the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open in the respective year. Not a single Hobart winner has made it past the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open. Dominique van Roost was the first Hobart winner to make it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open back in 1997. She retired in her quarterfinal match against 14th-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez while trailing 5-7 0-4. Anna Chakvetadze was the second and only other Hobart winner to make it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She did that in 2007, she was defeated in two tight sets by top seed and eventual finalist Maria Sharapova.

By winning Hobart this year, Mona Barthel became the first qualifier to win a WTA title since Austria's Tamira Paszek won Quebec City in September 2010. Mona Barthel entered the Australain Open with more than 50% chances of making it out of the first round based on the performance of the winners of the past 18 years at the Australian Open. She did make it out of the first round and defeated 32nd seed Petra Cetkovska in the second round to book a third round meeting with Victoria Azarenka. Barthel did put up a good fight in the second set against Azarenka but the eventual Australian Open champion was too good for Barthel. So, the Hobart winner went down in the third round this year.

SYDNEY

• Best Australian Open result in the respective year: winner
• 2012: Victoria Azarenka won Sydney and won the Australian Open

Sydney finalists have had a very rich history at the Australian Open, with three Sydney winners going on to win the Australian Open and four Sydney runner-ups going on to claim the Australian Open trophy during the past 24 years. In addition, only once did the Sydney winner lose in the first round. It was back in 1995 when Gabriela Sabatini lost in the first round of the Australian Open after winning the Sydney title.

Victoria Azarenka won the Sydney title this year and while entering the Australian Open she had 79% chances of making it to the quarterfinals or better of the Australian Open, based on the performance of the past Sydney winners at the Australian Open. Three players during the past 24 years who had won the Sydney event went on to win the Australian Open. The three players were Monica Seles (1996), Martina Hingis (1997) and Justine Henin (2004). Victoria Azarenka with her victory at the Australian Open this year made it four players to win the Sydney and the Australian Open trophies the same year in the past 25 years.

Monica Seles, when she won Sydney and Australian Open to kick start her 1996 campaign, ended the year as world No.2. Martina Hingis, who won Sydney and Australian Open in 1997 ended the year as world No.1. Justine Henin who started her 2004 campaign with back-to-back titles at Sydney and the Australian Open ended the year at No.8. Where will Azarenka end this year which has seen her reach No.1 ranking, win Sydney and her maiden Grand Slam? Will she follow in the footsteps of Seles, Hingis or Henin or will she carve her own path? (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

At the Brisbane International, which is now a Premier tournament, Kaia Kanepi won her second and biggest title after beating Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-1 in the final. Her maiden WTA title came two years ago at the International-level event in Palermo.

The first to lead, 2-1, was Hantuchova, but from then on Kanepi won nine straight games and in the second set she lost just one point in the first four games. 

Kanepi's most thrilling match was in the first round against Alexandra Panova, 121st-ranked qualifier, which ended after more than two hours of play, 7-5 3-6 6-2. Three seeded players followed and the scoreline was more straightforward, often much more: 6-0 6-3 against seed No.7 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-1 7-6(7) against seed No.2 Andrea Petkovic, and 6-3 6-0 against seed No.3 Francesca Schiavone in the semis.

The 26-year-old Kanepi is a significant Estonian in many ways: she's the first from her country to reach a WTA final, the first to play a Grand Slam quarterfinal, the first to crack  Top 20, win a WTA title and beat a regining world No.1 when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in Tokyo last year.

The prize of $110,000 reached Kanepi's pocket with the Brisbane title and the Estonian is projected to rise from No.34 to No.26 in the rankings. (photo via Brisbane International)

Clijsters won the tiebreak 7-4 and already in that first set she felt stiffening, which was getting worse. She didn't want to risk and cause a complete spasm and muscle tear, so she stopped while trailing 3-1 in the second set.

Australian Open title defense is just a week and a half away for Clijsters. Tomorrow she will have an MRI to check the seriousness of the injury, but she's not blindly optimistic: "I don't doubt that there will be a problem once I start in Melbourne".

Hantuchova's opponent in the final will be Kaia Kanepi, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-0 in the semifinals.

Additional info: The 2012 season has barely started, and it seems that my New Year's wishes are not coming true – injuries are already piling up. Besides Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters, Sabine Lisicki is having a left abdominal muscle injury, Ksenia Pervak migrane, Polona Hercog low back injury, and not to mention Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova who have delayed their beginning of the season due to illness and injury. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

No official information on Jankovic's cooperation with Fila has been announced yet, but the world No.14 debuted her possible new clothing sponsor in the first round of the Brisbane International, in the match against Carla Suarez Navarro. The Fila Center Court Dress was on the courts for two more matches, until Jankovic lost to Francesca Schiavone in a quarterfinal marathon, 5-7 7-6(2) 6-3, after wasting two match points in the second set.

As for Samantha Stosur, her deal with Asics is official, implying the end of her sponsorship by Lacoste. In the following video Stosur is saying a few words about her joining the Asics team.

Just like Jankovic, Stosur premiered her Asics clothing at the Brisbane International. She was seeded No.1 but was knocked out by Iveta Benesova in the second round, 6-4 6-2.

To remind yourselves of how Jankovic and Stosur looked in the apparel of their former sponsors, browse through our yearly fashion retrospections:

The 2011 look at Jelena Jankovic's fashion partnership with Anta

The second year of JJ's partnership with ANTA in pictures

Jelena Jankovic's 2009 ANTA dresses

Jelena Jankovic's Reebok days

Retrospection of all Samantha Stosur's Lacoste outfits in 2011

In pictures: Samantha Stosur wearing Lacoste throughout 2010

(sources: Slice, DeShawn Besabella)

Maria Sharapova has still not recovered 100% from her ankle injury sustained at the Tokyo tournament in the end of September and the latest news is that the Russian will not play the Brisbane International starting January 1 in Australia.

However, Sharapova reassured us that the injury will keep her off the courts for long and she is expected to play at the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open which starts two weeks later.

After the injury occurred, the 24-year-old did show up at the WTA Championships in October, but lost both her matches – to Samantha Stosur (for the first time in ten meetings!) and Li Na. (photo: Fiji Water, source: Tennis.com)

In her latest blog entry Kim Clijsters reveals that her injury recovery process is progressing well, she's practicing three or four times a week, preparing for the Antwerp Diamond Games exhibition on December 8 and the 2012 season which the Belgian will open with the Brisbane International which starts on January 2.

Clijsters is working hard with her new coach Carl Maes and new sparring partner Stefan Wauters, and the regime is going to include even more tennis hours. At the same time, her injuries of right foot and stomach muscles are responding well to recovery exercises.

While in Belgium, Clijsters is spending time home with her family, husband Bryan and daughter Jada, trying new recipes in the kitchen, which are optimized for her best tennis results. (via Beyond the Baseline, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The Brisbane tournament, which will be upgraded from International to Premier status next season, will host Serena Williams for the first time in 2012.

Well, I never played in Brisbane and I've never been to Brisbane (but I've) heard great things about it. It's brand new (for me) so all that is going to be really exciting and it will help me with my seeding going into the Australian Open too, so that would be good.

Other confirmed stars:

Samantha Stosur – reigning US Open champion who would like to bring her A-game to her home tournaments of Brisbane and Australian Open

Maria Sharapova – just like Serena, first-time Brisbane participant

Kim Clijsters – 2010 champion who will play her first tournament since August 2011

Ana Ivanovic – played the quarterfinals in 2009 and semifinals in 2010

Additional info: Talking about the Australian part of the season, let’s just remind you that Serena is expected to play mixed doubles with Andy Roddick at the Australian Open. (source: ESPN, photo by our reader Jacob)

(click on the image above to watch the video)

By winning the 2011 US Open title, Samantha Stosur achieved a great thing for her career and for her home country of Australia, which is now giving back to its champion. The 27-year-old received a homecoming celebration in Gold Cost, her city of residence, and was handed keys to the city as a special honor.

Stosur used the opportunity to confirm participation at her home tournament of Brisbane International in January 2012, where she hopes to bring her US Open form. Then she will head to a quest for the Australian Open trophy.

It is a very exciting time for me and it is great to be able to come home and share what has been a huge achievement with my family and friends in Queensland. I don't get the chance to get home often so to have this time is very special.

The Brisbane International tournament, taking place in the beginning of the season, will be more significant as of 2012, as the WTA awarded it a Premier level status. The aim of this move is to strengthen the start of the tennis year by attracting more big names to the event whose prize money will increase from the current $220,000 to $655,000 in 2012, and it will sore further to $1,000,000 from 2013.

The more valuable Brisbane tournament, being held at the state-of-the-art Queensland Tennis Centre since 2009, will start January 2, 2012. The following players have won the title in Brisbane so far: Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters and Petra Kvitova.

Additional info: the WTA has also announced interesting stats backing up the success of the new Roadmap unveiled in 2009. Maybe we have a feeling that everyone is injured, but the WTA’s data tells a different story:

- 15% increase in top player participation at the WTA's Premier events
- 46% decrease in player withdrawals (photo: twenty90seven, source: WTA Tour)

First of all, I would use this opportunity to once again thank all of you for voting for Women's Tennis Blog in 2009 Baseline Awards, as thanks to you my blog won the in the Best Tennis Blog category.

Secondly, I missed quite a few tennis events and stories during my time off, and I would like to do a little wrap-up of what happened while I was away. The Brisbane International and the ASB Classic are over and here's what happened there.

Brisbane saw an all-Belgian epic final, with Kim Clijsters defeating Justine Henin 6-3 4-6 7-6(6). En route to victory Clijsters saved two match points and wasted three.

Just after the Brisbane final, Henin withdrew from the Sydney International because of the left leg injury sustained in that title match. Henin wanted to make sure she was healthy for the upcoming Australian Open.

The other WTA tournament I skipped to cover was the ASB Classic in Auckland. The titlist at the event was Yanina Wickmayer who defeated top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 in the final. The victory was the best moment of Wickmayer’s career as she entered the Auckland draw after a court overturned a year's ban imposed by the Belgian doping authority.

The most exciting off-court piece of news is that Nike signed an eight-year, $70-million endorsement deal with Maria Sharapova. In addition, the Russian will be getting a percentage of sales from the line she'll help develop. Wow! And by the way, Sharapova beat Venus Williams 6-3 6-4 at an exhibition event in Thailand.

Feel free to mention in the comments some stories that I missed to write about that you find interesting. I would love you to enrich this post by your links and perspective on the past two weeks. (photos via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)