PERTH (AFP) - Fit-again Russia's Maria Slovak is all set to make ripples at the Sydney International Tennis Tournament this week. The 19-year s missed the Brisbane event last week and was seen practicing on Sunday. Meanwhhile Dominik Hrbaty believes pint-sized Hopman Cup team-mate Dominika Cibulkova has the game to be one of the giants of women's tennis. The 19-year-old pocket rocket was a revelation at the mixed teams tournament, winning all four of her singles matches, culminating in a three-set victory over world No.3 Dinara Safina in the final, as the unfancied Slovaks clinched the title. It was an impressive start to the year for the 19th-ranked teenager, who climbed from 51st in 2008 with third round appearances at the US and French Opens and her first two WTA singles titles.Despite her short stature, standing 1.61m, Hrbaty said Cibulkova's agility, temperament and groundstrokes made her a star of the future. "She runs really well," he said here Saturday. "She plays the ball very early after the bounce, and if she improves her serve a little bit, and also some of the tactics, you know, that she will get when she will be older, she can be really on top of the WTA rankings. "She could be one of the best players there and she has a big ability to, you know, to play anybody. "Because it's not easy to win the ball against her, as many girls they get scared you know, like we saw Safina today, they start to make mistakes. "And they just want to do something to win the ball but she's everywhere because she's so quick, so it's not easy." Cibulkova's Hopman Cup triumph over Safina followed victories over top-10 players Venus Williams, Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic during 2008. "Of course," she said when asked if she would take extra confidence into the Australian Open, starting on January 19, after her singles results here. "And last year I also beat quite a lot of the players from the top 10. "I have confidence for these matches and I hope I will do good results in some of the Grand Slams." Cibulkova was a first round loser at the Australian Open last year, but likes the Melbourne surface and believes it suits her game. "I like hard courts more," she said. "I am really looking forward for Melbourne, it's a little bit different surface but I really like it. "I feel in very good form, I was working hard in the off-season. "I am really glad that I started pretty well and hopefully I will continue." Cibulkova said her biggest adjustment would be playing outdoors again, after the indoor matches at the Hopman Cup.