The main draw for the Hobart International unfolded this afternoon, setting up a potential second round blockbuster between two former champions. The only dual winner in Hobart – Elise Mertens who went back-to-back in 2017-2018 – has drawn a qualifier for her first-round assignment either Monday or Tuesday. Should the second-seeded Belgian progress, she could be on a collision course with one of the other two former champions in the 2023 field in American Sofia Kenin. Egypt’s Mayar Sherif who won her maiden tour title in 2022 at Parma, took part in the draw and said it is one of the deepest fields she has seen for a WTA250 event. The world No. 52 will also face a qualifier in the opening round, which brings its own set of challenges. “The draw is tough. I mean, for a 250, this is a very tough tournament, everybody’s looking to play before the AO [Australian Open] to get some rhythm,” Sherif said. “Tough to [face] anybody in the list. [I have] a qualifier, so that’s going to be t...