What's at Stake: Looking at the quality fields in Dubai and Delray

Published Feb 19, 2018

February marches on, to the beat of its own understated, underrated drum. While this weekend’s tournaments weren’t among the most significant on the season’s calendar, the victories were. Two of the game’s most popular players, Roger Federer and Petra Kvitova, made long-awaited returns—Federer’s win in Rotterdam took him back to No. 1 for the first time since 2012, while Kvitova’s landed her back to the Top 10 a little more than a year after she was attacked in her home. Meanwhile, with his title in Buenos Aires, Dominic Thiem began to lay the groundwork for what could be a significant clay-court season of his own this spring.

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Can February’s third week match all of that, or even a fraction of it? Here’s a look ahead at the five events on tap.

Dubai Duty Free Championships (WTA)

Dubai, UAE

$733,900; Premier

Hard court

Draw is here

Shall we do it all over again in the desert? Roughly half the women who spent last week at the Premier 5 event in Doha will spend this week at the Premier event in Dubai, and they’ll compete for a prize-money purse that’s one third the size. Quality-wise, though, Dubai measures up well. Gone are the No. 1 and 2 players in the world, Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep, but their fellow Top Tenners Elina Svitolina (she’s the top seed and defending champ), Garbine Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, Jelena Ostapenko, Caroline Garcia, and Angelique Kerber are set to play. Also in the draw, at least for now, is Kvitova, the owner of a 13-match, two-tournament win streak. As always with this February swing through the peninsula, the lack of historical gravitas should make this week’s matches enjoyable to watch in a low-stakes kind of way.

Wild card to watch: CiCi Bellis, who recorded her first win over a Top 5 player (Pliskova) last week, could face Muguruza in the second round.

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Rio Open (ATP)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

$1,842,475; 500 ranking points

Red clay

Draw is here

Hopes were high when plans for a new ATP 500-level event in Rio were announced a few years ago. Finally, the clay-based Golden Swing through South America would get the signature tournament it needed. Since then, though, another 500-level event, in Acapulco, has gained more steam and a higher profile. Because Acapulco is now on hard courts, the big-name players can use it as a tune-up for next month’s U.S. hard-court swing.

Meanwhile, Rio still has 500 ranking points and nearly $1.8 million in prize money, but it has precious few bold-faced names in its 32-player draw. Marin Cilic is the top seed, Thiem is second, Pablo Carreño Busta is third, and Gael Monfils is the dangerous floater. Too bad Monfils and Cilic could meet in the second round.

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Delray Beach Open (ATP)

Delray Beach, Fla

$556,010; 250 ranking points

Hard court

Draw is here

For U.S. tennis fans, Delray is what passes for a sign of spring in February. The players are back outdoors, in the mostly warm climes of South Florida. And there are lots of natives to watch—nine of the 32 players in the draw are from the States.

That includes top seed Jack Sock. Unfortunately for Sock, and for the tournament, he’ll face the man he was supposed to face in last year’s final here, Milos Raonic, in his opener. Raonic, now unseeded and making yet another return from injury, leads his head to head with Sock 8-3, but the American has won their last two meetings.

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Yet Delray isn’t just an all-American affair. There is a sprinkling of international crowd-pleasers in the field as well, including No. 2 seed Juan Martin del Potro, No. 5 seed Nick Kyrgios, No. 8 seed Hyeon Chung, and unseeded Denis Shapovalov.

Wild cards to watch: Frances Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka

Players NOT scheduled to face off in the early rounds: Ryan Harrison and Donald Young

Open 13 Provence (ATP)

Marseille, France

$850,000; 250 ranking points

Hard court

Draw is here

Marseille is missing its last two champions, Kyrgios and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as well as its top seed, David Goffin. In his semifinal in Rotterdam on Saturday, the unlucky Belgian was felled by a ball that ricocheted off his frame and into the area around his eye. That leaves Stan Wawrinka as the highest seed, followed by Lucas Pouille, Tomas Berdych, and Roberto Bautista Agut, who moves into Goffin’s position at the top of the brackets.

Also here: Julien Benneteau. Is it time for the Title Watch to begin anew? The Frenchman could face Bautista Agut in the second round.

Wild card to watch: 17-year-old Canadian junior champ Felix Auger Aliassime will open against Thomas Fabbiano