Francesca Schiavone, the Italian who defeated Sam Stosur in the 2010 French Open final, will headline next year’s Hobart International field.

Former world No.4 Schiavone will be hot favourite to take out the women’s event, which runs from January 4-12 in the Tasmanian capital and is one of the lead-up tournaments before the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, in Melbourne.

Taiwanese rising star and world No.25 Su-Wei Hsieh will play in the tournament for the first time, while Romania’s Sorana Cirstea will be making her third Hobart appearance.

Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, ranked world No.2 in 2010 but currently No.95, is in the tournament’s qualifying draw.

“We are thrilled to welcome a Grand Slam champion to Hobart. Schiavone definitely adds some star power to our line-up,” said tournament director Mark Handley, adding that more player announcements will be made in the coming weeks.