Headline act Venus Williams has avoided a seeded opponent in the opening round of the ASB Classic tennis tournament in Auckland.

The seven-time grand slam singles winner has been drawn with Czech Andrea Hlavackova in the WTA event, which begins on Monday.

A former world No.1, Williams has battled health issues in recent years and has a present ranking of 47, about 90 places above Hlavackova.

The tournament’s other big name, Serbian second seed Ana Ivanovic, has been matched with American Alison Riske.

Ivanovic, a French Open winner who was also once world No.1, goes into the tournament ranked 16th.

Meanwhile, New Zealand hope Marina Erakovic has received a favourable first-round draw.

The 26-year-old Aucklander, who is starting a season in the top-50 for the first time, will face American Lauren Davis.

It will be the first meeting between the pair, who are ranked 46 and 70 in the world.

However, it could get much tougher for Erakovic if she gets past the 20-year-old Davis, with top seeded Italian Roberta Vinci the likely second-round opponent.

Vinci’s first hurdle is 15-year-old Croatian wildcard Ana Konjuh.