Week in Preview: Sharapova returns in Stuttgart; Nadal is in Barcelona

This week we head deeper into dirt. After kicking things off in Monte Carlo, the men scatter to Barcelona and Budapest. The women, meanwhile, gather for their first significant red-clay event of the spring, in Stuttgart. None of these are top-level tournaments, but together they feature a strong crop of top-level players—including one who is making her return after more than a year away.

*Stuttgart, Germany

$776,000; WTA Premier

Indoor red clay

Draw is here*

There will be a lot to watch in Stuttgart over the next week. Eight of the Top 10—Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Johanna Konta, Agnieszka Radwanska and Svetlana Kuznetsova—are on hand. They’ll be playing their first WTA matches since learning that Serena Williams is pregnant and won’t be back this season, which means they’ll be playing with entirely new and heightened expectations about what’s possible for them in 2017.

For the time being, though, the talk won’t be about any of those Top 10-ers. It will be about Maria Sharapova, a former one who is making her controversial return as a wild card. The question of the moment is whether Sharapova, who is returning after more than a year away due to a doping suspension, should be given wild cards into events. While no rules should have been broken or bent for her, going forward I don’t think it’s a problem for tournaments to invite her to their events. Sharapova has done her time, and earned her status.

In Stuttgart, where she’s a three-time champion, Sharapova will start against Roberta Vinci, and could play one of her recent critics, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the next round. I would expect the Russian, whose game is so much about timing and precision with her drives, to be rusty.

First-round matches to watch:

Sharapova vs. Vinci

Elena Vesnina (champion in Miami) vs. Daria Kasatkina (champion in Charleston)

Muguruza vs. her former doubles partner, Carla Suarez Navarro

Potential second-round match to watch:

Karolina Pliskova vs. Coco Vandeweghe: The American is coming off a three-win Fed Cup weekend, and leads their head to head 2-1.

*Barcelona, Spain

$2,600,000; 500 points

Red clay

Draw is here*

It could be a spring of décima-tion for Rafael Nadal. A week after winning his 10th title in Monte Carlo, he has a chance to do the same in Barcelona; and in a little more than a month, he could make it a triple-10 in Paris.

While Nadal is obviously the favorite at his de facto home tournament, he may have a little tougher road than he did last week. He could face David Ferrer—his friend, countryman and occasional rival—in the third round. After that, he might get another look at Alexander Zverev; I’d expect the German to play better in a rematch than he did in Monte Carlo. And while the highest seed in his half, Kei Nishikori, pulled out with a wrist injury, Nadal could play David Goffin again in the semis, and world No. 1 Andy Murray in the final. Murray, who is coming back from an elbow injury, will have his work cut out for him to make it there, but he did win his last meeting with Nadal on clay, last year in Madrid.

Also here: Dominic Thiem, Pablo Cuevas, Mischa Zverev, Richard Gasquet, Pablo Carreño Busta

*Budapest, Hungary

$700,000; 250 ranking points

Red clay

Draw is here*

The cream of the men’s tour is in Barcelona, but Budapest has its share of quality next-tier players. Lucas Pouille, Ivo Karlovic, Fabio Fognini and Gilles Simon are the Top 4 seeds.

First-round match to watch: Borna Coric vs. Jiri Vesely

U.S. qualifier:Bjorn Fratangelo, who will face Simon in the opening round

*Istanbul, Turkey

$250,000; WTA International

Red clay

Draw is here*

While most eyes will be on the Premier event in Stuttgart this week, there’s also a 32-draw International tournament in Istanbul. Thirteenth-ranked Elina Svitolina is the top seed.

Also here:Eugenie Bouchard, Andrea Petkovic