Week in Preview: Five tournaments, four continents from Dubai and Doha to Delray Beach, featuring Alcaraz, Berrettini and Murray

The most significant of them is the women’s 500-level event in Dubai, where much of the tour’s Top 20 will return for the first time since the Australian Open.

BySteve Tignor

Published Feb 13, 2022

MATCH POINT: A. Kontaveit def. M. Sakkari; St. Petersburg F

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WATCH: This past week ended with a 20-match win streak for Anett Kontaveit in St. Petersburg and a first ATP title for Félix Auger-Aliassime in Rotterdam.

Doha, Delray, Dubai, Rio, and Marseille: With five tournaments on four continents, the tours have outdone themselves this week. The most significant of them is the women’s 500-level event in Dubai, where much of the tour’s Top 20 will return for the first time since the Australian Open.

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Aryna Sabalenka aims to reset after an uneven Australian summer riddled by serving woes.

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (WTA)

Dubai, UAE
$703,580; WTA 500
Hard court
Draw is here

The women’s tour is the first to pick up the post-Australian Open pace and gather the lion’s share of its Top 20 in one location. Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka aren’t here, but Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejcikova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Paula Badosa, Iga Swiatek, Anett Kontaveit, Ons Jabeur, Danielle Collins, Simona Halep, Coco Gauff, and Elina Svitolina are. That’s not a bad haul for a 32-player draw. Not surprisingly, it makes for some intriguing matchups right off the bat.

First-round matches to watch:

Petra Kvitova vs. Camila Giorgi
Sofia Kenin vs. Jelena Ostapenko
Swiatek vs. Daria Kasatkina
Gauff vs. Jessica Pegula
Victoria Azarenka va. Veronika Kudermetova

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How will Matteo Berrettini fare against a fast-improving Carlos Alcaraz on clay in Rio?

Rio Open (ATP)

Rio de Janiero, Brazil
$1,815,115; ATP 500
Red clay
Draw is here

This week’s men’s 500, in Rio, isn’t quite as stocked with Top Tenners as Dubai. But two big names do return: Matteo Berrettini and Carlos Alcaraz. The Italian is the No. 1 seed, and the Spaniard is No. 7, and they’re scheduled to face off in the third round. We’ll see how they follow up their five-set Australian Open epic. That was won by Berrettini; will clay favor Alcaraz?

Also here: Casper Ruud, Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreño Busta, Cristian Garin. Ruud made a good showing in this past week in Argentina. Could he be laying the foundation for a breakthrough clay-court swing in the spring?

First-round match to watch: Alcaraz vs. fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar

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The long road back continues for Andy Murray in Doha following a Rotterdam defeat to eventual champ Félix Auger-Aliassime.

Qatar Exxonmobil Open (ATP)

Doha, Qatar
$1,176,595; ATP 250
Hard court
Draw is here

The men’s version of the Arabian swing begins with this 250 in Doha. Top seed Denis Shapovalov will try to shake off a couple of frustrating recent results—a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, and a straight-set loss to newcomer Jiri Lehecka in Rotterdam.

Also here: Roberto Bautista Agut, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Marin Cilic, Dan Evans, Alexander Bublik

First-round match to watch: Andy Murray vs. Taro Daniel. Daniel beat Murray in straight sets at the Australian Open last month.

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After a week to remember, Auger-Aliassime begins his quest for a second ATP title in Marseille.

Open 13 Provence (ATP)

Marseille, France
$800,000; ATP 250
Indoor hard court
Draw is here

If you missed any of Rotterdam this week, you’ll probably be able to fill in the gaps in Marseille. The fields look very similar: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, and Félix Auger-Aliassime, each of whom made the semifinals in Rotterdam, are the two top three seeds here. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a wild card again, and Tallon Griekspoor looks like he might make back-to-back trips to the round of 16.

But there is a bit more of a French flavor this time around. Lucas Pouille and Gilles Simon join Tsonga as wild cards. And they join four of their countrymen, Richard Gasquet, Hugo Gaston, Corentin Moutet, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, to make up nearly a quarter of the draw.

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American hotshot Sebastian Korda will kick off his week in Delray Beach against resurgent Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Delray Beach Open (ATP)

Delray Beach, FL
$664,275; ATP 250
Hard court
Draw is here

Cameron Norrie may have been the most improved male player of 2021. Can he handle the expectations that will come with his meteoric rankings rise? So far the verdict is still out. The Brit lost his first four matches of 2022, and was blown out by Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open, before getting on the board with a pair of wins in Rotterdam last week. Now he’ll feel a different sort of pressure when he comes to Delray as the top seed.

Behind Norrie in the seedings at this American-centric event are Reilly Opelka, Grigor Dimitrov, Tommy Paul, Korda, and Jenson Brooksby. Opelka and Brooksby will look to build on their run to the final in Dallas.

First-round match to watch: Korda vs. Aussie Open men’s doubles champ Thanasi Kokkinakis

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