Fernando Verdasco

Third seed Fernando Verdasco safely negotiated the first round of the Brisbane International, seeing off wild card Bernard Tomic in straight sets.

The Spaniard rarely looked troubled by the home favourite and cruised to a 6-4 6-2 triumph on Monday.

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis went down in three sets to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

Cypriot Baghdatis, who lost to Roger Federer in the 2006 final at Melbourne Park, took the opening set but eventually slumped to a 5-7 6-1 6-4 defeat.

The draw for the Brisbane International was held today in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall in front of a buzzing throng of tennis fans.

Assisted by former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo and Spanish Davis Cup hero Fernando Verdasco, representatives from the WTA and ATP Tours shaped the make-up of the inaugural Brisbane International.

By chance both Mauresmo and Verdasco were drawn to play Australian foes. Mauresmo will face the re-building Dokic, while Verdasco will meet 16-year-old wildcard recipient Bernard Tomic in what will be a keenly watched match.

You might not believe in New Year's resolutions, and probably for good reason. Chances are, if you've ever made any, you've also broken more than a few. But when you take away the special name, they're really just goals, and we're always supposed to set goals for ourselves, right? With that in mind, here are a few goals -- or resolutions, if you will -- for 2009 for those of us in the world of tennis, whether we're players, coaches, fans or members of the ever-excitable media.

New stadium facilities, a greater number of combined women's and men's events and bigger prize-money purses are key elements of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's new Roadmap calendar, which makes the Brisbane International a poster child for the changes set to revitalise tennis in 2009. 

The Spanish tennis player famous for stormy relationships

I have a confession to make. We haven't even hit mid-December yet, and I'm already bested out. Everywhere I turn, people are churning out their annual year-in-review lists: "10 Best ATP Matches of 2008!", "The Best New Tennis Prospects for 2009!", "Five Most Memorable Moments of the Year!", "Nine Best WTA Matches of 2008!" (What can I say, the women's game lacks depth).

The tennis off-season, all one and a half months’ worth, is nearly half over. Here’s a look at how some of the pros have been spending their time away from the courts:

Rafael Nadal

A pair of Spaniards — Davis Cup hero Fernando Verdasco and former World No. 1 Carlos Moya — have replaced Ernests Gulbis and James Blake in the AAMI Classic field in Kooyong, set for January 14-17.

The pair join Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Fernando Gonzalez, Marin Cilic, Marat Safin and Marcos Baghdatis in the eight-man exhibition event.