Week in Preview: Stuttgart, Barcelona, Bucharest, Istanbul

Last week, the men opened their European clay-court season in Monte Carlo; this week the women do the same in Stuttgart. The cavernous indoor arena there doesn’t come with quite the same view—you can’t see the sun, let alone the Mediterranean—but it does come with a similarly stacked field. On the ATP side, Rafael Nadal will try to keep his new momentum going in Barcelona. Here’s at look at what we might see in the clay swing’s second act.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (WTA)

*Stuttgart, Germany

$759,000; WTA Premier

Clay

Draw is here*

When it comes to cash or prestige, Stuttgart isn’t quite at the level of the upcoming dual-gender clay events in Madrid and Rome. But this women's-only tournament, which has a tightly-packed draw of just 28, can set a tone. Last year Angelique Kerber gave us a sign of things to come when she won the title, and in 2012 and 2014, Maria Sharapova began runs here that didn’t end until she had won the French Open. (This year, not only is Sharapova not in the draw, but Porsche has suspended its relationship with her.)

Kerber, however, is back as the second seed, and she’s hoping to build off of her semifinal finish in Key Biscayne earlier this month. The German has shown that she can play on clay, but not yet at the French Open, where she's just 13-8. After her win in Australia this year, she should be ready to go deeper in Paris. That process starts this week.

The same goes for top seed Agnieszka Radwanska. The world No. 2 has been past the fourth round at Roland Garros just once, and she bottomed out with a first-round loss there last year. Aga should be much better than that on clay, but she may need to prove it quickly. In Stuttgart, she opens against either Andrea Petkovic or Kristina Mladenovic.

Fourth-seeded Simona Halep proved her clay chops when she made the French Open final two years ago; now it’s a matter of finding that form again after a shaky 10-8 start to the season has dropped her ranking from No. 2 to No. 6. Unfortunately, the shakiness continues: Halep, who has had ankle issues, lost badly to Kerber in Fed Cup play over the weekend.

Garbiñe Muguruza is the fourth player with a first-round bye in Stuttgart. Like Halep, she’s looking to right her 2016 ship; like Kerber, she also looked better in Miami. As for clay, the Spaniard knows her way around it: She’s reached the quarters at the French Open the last two years. Muguruza will open against either Sabine Lisicki or Timea Babos.

Also here: Petra Kvitova, Ana Ivanovic, Karolina Pliskova, Lucie Safarova, Roberta Vinci, Carla Suarez Navarro, Johanna Konta

There should be quality matches from start to finish.

Barcelona Open (ATP)

*Barcelona, Spain

$2,745,012; 500 ranking points

Clay

Draw is here*

Attention-wise, Barcelona is a fairly low-profile event. If it wasn’t for the continued presence of Nadal, who lives in nearby Mallorca and is an eight-time champion here, it would have virtually no profile at all. That’s understandable when you look at the bigger tournaments that surround it—Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome—but it’s also a little strange. Barcelona offers 500 ranking points to the winner and a $2.7 million purse to the field.

On the one hand, Nadal’s title in Monte Carlo on Sunday makes his result this week a little less crucial. You can’t take the wins over Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Gael Monfils away from him. On the other hand, it makes his result in Barcelona a little more interesting. Is he going to build up a rampaging head of steam as he bulls his way toward Paris, the way he once routinely did? Rafa will start against one of two countrymen, Marcel Granollers or Daniel Munoz de la Nava. Of more interest is his potential fourth-round opponent, Fabio Fognini. The Italian beat Nadal here last year.

Otherwise, Barcelona has a very solid field, led by two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori, who is making his clay-season debut. Also here are David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut, Benoit Paire, Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Cuevas.

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy (ATP)

*Bucharest, Romania

$610,000; 250 ranking points

Clay

Draw is here*

The last time many of us heard from Bernard Tomic, he was complaining that Aussie Davis Cup teammate Nick Kyrgios was resting happily at home while he, Bernie, was on court slaving away for his country. Since then, Tomic has played just two matches, in Indian Wells, where he retired with a wrist injury. Now Bernie is back as the top seed in Bucharest.

Also here: Ivo Karlovic, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Damir Dzumhur, Federico Delbonis, Fernando Verdasco

TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup (WTA)

*Istanbul, Turkey

$250,000; WTA International

Clay

Draw is here*

How often does a player ranked 34th in the world get to be the No. 1 seed at an event? Anna Karolina Schmiedlova has the dubious honor this week in Istanbul.

Also here: Yanina Wickmayer