Australia's Jelena Dokic has been given a wild card into Brisbane, the first tournament of the 2011 season.
The former one-time No. 4 reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2009 but has fallen back to the pack since then. In 2010, she won three ITF circuit events, but hasn’t won a WTA main draw match since reaching the quarterfinals of Prague in May. She’s currently ranked No. 117.
"Jelena is a passionate player and will be a real surprise card in the draw. When she is playing well she is capable of beating anyone," said tournament director Steve Ayles. "I saw her about six weeks ago in Europe and she was very relaxed, very confident. She's been winning some matches and she's very keen to come back."
No Australian men were directly admitted into the main draw of the combined tournament, but there are still wild cards available. Aussie teenager Bernard Tomic, ranked No. 208, is expected to request one. The entry cut-off point was No. 79. Tomic is Australia's seventh-ranked Australian below Peter Luczak (No. 137), Marinko Matosevic (No. 138) and Carsten Ball (No. 153), all of whom are expected to request wildcards.
Three Aussie women got straight in, led by No. 6 Samantha Stosur, No. 42 Jarmila Groth and No. 64 Anastasia Rodionova.—Matthew Cronin