This week sees the WTA tour return to Stuttgart, in what is Germany’s sole WTA tournament. Despite not having the most ranking points on offer, it is one of the most important clay tournaments in the calendar and, as ever, boasts a field packed with talent.
Top picks
Angelique Kerber
The German has never been the biggest fan of clay courts, but playing in front of your home crowd can do wonders, just ask Fabio Fognini. Kerber has won this tournament twice before, most recently in 2016. Despite not making the best start to the year, Kerber’s form has improved lately and she made an impressive run to the Indian Wells final, only to fall just short against Canada’s Bianca Andreescu. She does, however, have a rather difficult draw with the talented Donna Vekic her first-round opponent and Elise Mertens and Naomi Osaka potential obstacles in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively.
Simona Halep
The Romanian has never won this tournament, but she always has to be amongst the favourites at every clay-court event. The reigning French Open champion is never more at home than on the terre battue and her favourable draw puts her in a good position. She will face either the veteran Andrea Petkovic or a qualifier in the second round and most likely Belinda Bencic or Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals, neither of whom are amongst the most consistent of players. She faces a possible meeting with Petra Kvitova in the last four, but considering the quality of the field, she has a good draw.
Karolina Pliskova
Pliskova is a player that is always difficult to predict – she is very consistent and is deservedly in the top 10, but can have anomalous results every now and then. She is the defending champion, having beaten Coco Vandeweghe of the USA in last year’s final, but has a tricky draw. Either Garbine Muguruza or Victoria Azarenka, both former-world #1s and multiple Grand Slam champions, will be her second-round opponent. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Julia Goerges, Anett Kontaveit and Caroline Garcia also lurk in her section of the draw.
The biggest loser
The world number #1 Naomi Osaka may not be the most comfortable player on clay, but will be looking to have a solid week. However, she has possibly the most difficult draw, with a potential third meeting of the year against Hsieh Su-wei, who she lost to in Miami, or Wang Qiang, a very dangerous player set for the second round. Then, in the quarterfinals she could face Angelique Kerber. Osaka may struggle to win a match, let alone the tournament.
Matches to watch
Wang Qiang vs Hsieh Su-wei
It seems strange to see two quality players facing each other in the first round of the tournament. This match won’t be about power, but both women are crafty operators and should be able to deploy their artistic skills to full affect on the clay. It is certainly an interesting match up so early in the tournament.
Garbine Muguruza vs Victoria Azarenka
This pair had been set to meet in the recent Monterrey final, but Azarenka was forced to retire due to injury. It will be interesting to see how the match plays out between two fit players and we will surely see some big hitting.
Anastasia Sevastova vs Jelena Ostapenko
This will be a clash of contrasting styles. Both players have struggled for form recently, but have had some superb results in the past, most notably Ostapenko’s stunning French Open triumph in 2017. They have never met before in tour-level action, but one may assume that they know each others games fairly well thanks to their shared nationality. An intriguing battle between the Latvian #1 and #2.
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