Week in preview: Medvedev, Sabalenka lead fields in Rotterdam, Doha | TENNIS.com

After six weeks of the bubble life, tennis is lastly prepared to depart the comparatively protected confines of Australia and take its possibilities on the street once more. Out of the blue the tour schedules are starting to look acquainted once more. The lads are in Rotterdam and Buenos Aires this week, whereas the highest girls collect for the primary leg of the WTA’s desert double in Doha. Sometime, hopefully quickly, followers will comply with.

ABN AMRO World Tennis Event (ATP)

Rotterdam, Netherlands

$1,500,000; ATP 500

Indoor exhausting courtroom

Draw is here

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You may assume a 500-level draw that misplaced Rafael Nadal to a nasty again can be devastated, however Rotterdam nonetheless has a loaded look to it. A futuristic one, too. With Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime among the many High 8 seeds, this could possibly be a sneak preview of what the Grand Slams will appear like if and when the Massive 3 ever exit the stage.

Of these High 8, I’ll be most inquisitive about Medvedev. Will he acquire momentum from reaching the Australian Open ultimate, or will his disappointing efficiency in that match set him again?

First-round matches to observe: Auger-Aliassime vs. Kei Nishikori; Andy Murray vs. Robin Haase; Stan Wawrinka vs. Karen Khachanov.

Qatar Whole Open (WTA)

Doha, Qatar

$565,000; WTA 500

Onerous courtroom

Draw is here

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The WTA returns to the Arabian peninsula for 2 occasions, in Doha and Dubai. Of the 2, Doha, with a 28-player draw and a modest purse, is the smaller event this yr. However in some ways in which works to its benefit. With a powerful, compact area, the nice matches can begin straight away.

And the Qatar Whole Open has a powerful area. Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, Aryna Sabalenka, Petra Kvitova, Jen Brady, and Victoria Azarenka are among the many High 8 seeds. Garbiñe Muguruza, Anett Kontaveit, Angelique Kerber, Jelena Ostapenko, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys, Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, Amanda Anisimova, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova are amongst these not seeded. There’s no time to work your manner into this one.

Who’s a participant to observe? I’ll have an interest to see how Sabalenka does in defending her title from 2020. How Muguruza bounces again after taking part in so effectively but in the end shedding to Naomi Osaka in Melbourne. And the way Rybakina, whose profession had been taking off earlier than the lockdowns, does now that the tour is again in one thing near full swing.

First-round matches to observe: Azarenka vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova; Keys vs. Belinda Bencic; Brady vs. Kontaveit; Ostapenko vs. Kiki Bertens.

Argentina Open (ATP)

Buenos Aires

$411,940; ATP 250

Pink clay

Draw is here

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Diego Schwartzman is the highest seed, however is he the hometown favourite this yr? For the second, he could must cede that standing to his countryman  Juan Handbook Cerundolo, who spent the previous week reaching the ultimate of the Cordoba Open in his first profession main-draw look. The world No. 335 will attempt to proceed that run of gorgeous kind in opposition to one more Argentine, Federico Delbonis, in his first spherical in Buenos Aires.

The ATP’s Golden Swing tends to supply a lot of these minor miracles: Final yr Pedro Sousa made the ultimate in Buenos Aires as a fortunate loser, and two years in the past Laslo Djere gained his first title in Rio de Janeiro. In 2021 a few of the gamers to observe might be No. 2 seed Cristian Garin; No. 5 Albert Ramos-Viñolas, who made the ultimate in Cordoba; No. 8 Frances Tiafoe, the lone American to attempt his luck on the South American dust this yr; and Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, a lefty clay lover who has made stable strides within the final two years.

Open 6ème Sens Metropole de Lyon (WTA)

Lyon, France

$235,238; WTA 250

Indoor exhausting courtroom

Draw is here

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As a 250, that is the week’s secondary WTA event. As of late, although, gamers are glad to have an opportunity to compete anyplace they will, and Lyon has attracted crowd. Ekaterina Alexandrova, Fiona Ferro, Caroline Garcia, and Kiki Mladenovic are the High 4 seeds.

First-round match to observe: Alexandrova vs. 18-year-old Danish up-and-comer Clara Tauson.