Rain has delayed the start of the Sydney International tennis tournament with none of Sunday’s 19 scheduled matches yet to take place.

Tournament officials are hoping play may get underway on Ken Rosewall Arena after 4pm (AEDT) where Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Madison Keys from the US.

Australia’s Sam Stosur’s clash with Lucie Safarova is scheduled to be the third match on the showcase court after Russian wildcard Daria Gavrilova takes on 17-year-old rising star Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

Stosur faces a tough test against the Czech left-hander who dominates the pair’s career series 9-2.

After crashing out in the first round in Brisbane last week, Stosur gets one last chance to build some momentum heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open starting on Monday week.

Australia’s top-ranked player admits it won’t be easy at the star-studded tournament, where eight of the world’s top 12 women’s players are rounding out their Open preparations.

The cut-off for direct entry for the tier-one tournament is world No.30.

“There’s no easy first-round matches,” Stosur said.

“The cut-off’s amazing. I mean, this is one of the toughest draws of the whole year.

“But I guess one of the great things about this tournament going into a grand slam is you’re going to match up against some of the best players in the world and you’re going to see where you’re stacked against them.”

“You’ve got to come out playing straight up to win this event. There’s certainly no warm-up matches anymore.”

Victory for the 21st-ranked Stosur, in what would be an upset over the world No.16, would likely set up a second-round clash with fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Australian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova is also in first-round action at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre on Sunday, up against German Andrea Petkovic.