AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova's rivalry will extend into a third decade to highlight the opening week of the 2020 WTA season.
The pair of Grand Slam champions were drawn to face each other in the first round of the ASB Classic, as the full slate for the International-event was released on Saturday.
Williams returns to New Zealand for the first time since 2017, where she suffered a second-round exit at the hands of compatriot Madison Brengle before going on to win the Australian Open while in early pregnancy, as she looks to win her first title of any kind since then.
The American and the Russian first met in 2004, and will play for the 14th time overall and for the first time in four years in the opening round. Though Williams leads the overall head-to-head, 10-3, six of the pair's career meetings have extended to three sets.
Also in the top quarter of the draw is a third Slam-winner in No.7 seed Jelena Ostapenko, who opens against German veteran Laura Siegemund, and will face the winner of the first-round match between tournament debutante Coco Gauff and 2019 semifinalist Viktoria Kuzmova.
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On the other side of the draw, Caroline Wozniacki, the No.5 seed, will start the penultimate tournament of her career against Kiwi wildcard Paige Hourigan, a 22-year-old former All-American at Georgia Tech.
Wozniacki announced in December that she intends to retire from professional tennis following the Australian Open, and she and two-time defending champion Julia Goerges, the No.4 seed, could be slated to meet in the quarterfinals in a rematch of the 2018 championship that was won by the German.
No.2 seed Petra Martic, No.3 seed Amanda Anisimova, No.6 seed Rebecca Peterson and No.8 seed Caroline Garcia round out the seeded players, with former Top 10 players Eugenie Bouchard, Daria Kasatkina and Carla Suárez Navarro also in the draw.
Click here to view the full ASB Classic main draw.
