In pictures: The story of Hobart 2020
From hometown heroine Lizette Cabrera's run of upsets to former champion Heather Watson's resurgence and champion Elena Rybakina's second title of her young career, all the best pictures from the Hobart International 2020.
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Australians Samantha Stosur, Lizette Cabrera and Astra Sharma led the charge at the player welcome dinner at Tasmania's Government House.
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Wildcard Lizette Cabrera helped WTA supervisor Mariana Alves and tournament director Darren Sturgess at the official draw ceremony.
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Camila Giorgi defeated Georgina Garcia Perez in the first round of qualifying.
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Ons Jabeur successfully qualified with wins over Makoto Ninomiya and 2015 finalist Madison Brengle.
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Heather Watson, the 2015 Hobart champion, presented the tournament’s ball kids with their caps on training day.
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Samantha Stosur, Elise Mertens and Sania Mirza helped promote the tournament's bushfire relief campaign.
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Nina Stojanovic, Cornelia Lister and Veronika Kudermetova made friends at the Bonorong Wildlife Park.
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Returning to Hobart for the first time since 2004, Svetlana Kuznetsova spent time with youngsters competing in the city's junior championships.
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Heather Watson successfully qualified, and then recovered from a set down to defeat Jil Teichmann in the first round.
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Lauren Davis saved a match point before defeating wildcard Astra Sharma in a deciding tiebreak.
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Kateryna Kozlova triumphed in straight sets over Sara Sorribes Tormo in a first-round clash of qualifiers.
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Shenzhen semifinalist Kristyna Pliskova continued her good form with a first-round win from a set down over Nina Stojanovic.
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Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova fought hard in a compelling first-round tilt against Magda Linette.
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Sixth seed Linette was pushed to two tiebreaks and had to save three set points in the second before overhauling Kuznetsova.
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Veronika Kudermetova dropped just four games against wildcard Samantha Stosur in the first round.
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There was more home success for Lizette Cabrera, who upset eighth seed Caroline Garcia in three sets for her fourth career Top 50 win.
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Top seed Elise Mertens was sharp in the first round, conceding only two games to Christina McHale.
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Shenzhen finalist Elena Rybakina continued her good form with a straight-sets first-round defeat of Tamara Zidansek.
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Fourth seed Zhang Shuai came from a set down to overcome Kirsten Flipkens in the first round.
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Alizé Cornet's first-round triumph over Alison Van Uytvanck was her third three-set victory in as many wins this year so far.
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Two-time Hobart champion Elise Mertens was treated to a seaplane ride with Above & Beyond.
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Jessica Moore and Tennis Australia coach Rohan Fisher shared their insights with Tasmania's local and regional tennis club presidents.
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With teaching experience of her own, Vania King shared her wisdom with a group of teachers who run tennis programs in Tasmania's schools.
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The second round saw Heather Watson defeating Fiona Ferro in straight sets for the second time in as many weeks.
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Elise Mertens' 6-1, 6-0 rout of Viktoria Kuzmova in the second round meant that the top seed had dropped only three games en route to the quarterfinals.
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Lizette Cabrera backed up her upset of Caroline Garcia by coming from a set down again to stun Kristyna Pliskova in round two.
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Second seed Garbiñe Muguruza saved a match point before surviving Ons Jabeur in a third-set tiebreak.
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Zhang Shuai moved into the semifinals with a straight-sets win over Lauren Davis.
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Tianjin runner-up Heather Watson's resurgence continued in a remarkable quarterfinal against Elise Mertens.
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Mertens seemed to have navigated past danger when she came from 1-4 down to take a 7-6(5), 4-2 lead over Watson.
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However, Watson came from a break down in both second and third sets to take the longest match of 2020 so far after three hours and 33 minutes.
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Lizette Cabrera looked to be continuing her run of upsets when the Australian took a set lead over third seed Elena Rybakina.
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However, Rybakina battled back to win 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 7-5 in another epic quarterfinal.
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Former doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza returned to action following maternity leave, partnering Nadiia Kichenok to reach the final with a defeat of Marie Bouzkova and Tamara Zidansek.
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Zhang Shuai reached the third final of her career, and first outside China, with a straight-sets semifinal defeat of Veronika Kudermetova.
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Elena Rybakina became the first player since 2013 to reach back-to-back finals in the first two weeks of the year after a high-quality win over Heather Watson.
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Sania Mirza's comeback got off to a champion start as she took the doubles title with Nadiia Kichenok over Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai.
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In the singles final, Elena Rybakina nearly let an early 4-1 lead slip - but saved a set point to take the first set over Zhang Shuai in a tiebreak.
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The normally undemonstrative Rybakina permitted herself a small smile after wrapping up victory 7-6(7), 6-3.
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This time last year, Rybakina was ranked World No.171; since then, the Kazakh has reached four finals and won her first two titles, and will consolidate a Top 30 position.
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