By now, February tennis has settled into its customary, quietly varied groove. From last week to this week, the cities and venues change, but the look and feel of the tour remains the same. In Europe, the men move from indoor hard courts in Rotterdam to indoor hard courts in Marseille; in South America, they travel from the clay of Buenos Aires to the clay of Rio de Janeiro; only in the U.S., where they transition from an indoor arena on Long Island to outdoor hard courts in Delray Beach, do we notice a change of scenery. On the WTA side, things will look similar, but twice as big, as the women move from a 28-player draw in Doha to a 56-player draw in Dubai.
What did we learn last week that we can apply to this coming week? Here’s a look ahead.
*Dubai, UAE
$2,828,000; Premier 5
Hard court
Draw is here*
The headline news in Dubai is that world No. 1 Naomi Osaka will return to action for the first time since (a) winning the Australian Open, and (b) splitting with the coach who helped her to two straight Grand Slam titles, Sascha Bajin. We’ll see how well she’s recovered from both of those events, as well as the back injury that kept her out of Doha last week. Osaka reached the quarterfinals in Dubai last year, where she lost to the player she’s slated to face in the quarters this year, two-time defending champion Elina Svitolina.
The fact that two elite players like Osaka and Svitolina could meet in the quarterfinals should give you an idea of how deep this Premier 5 draw is. Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova, Angelique Kerber, Kiki Bertens and Aryna Sabalenka round out the top eight seeds. Now let’s hope the tournament avoids the injury-pullout bug that plagued Doha.
Early-round matches to watch: Halep vs. Eugenie Bouchard; Sofia Kenin vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu; Caroline Garcia vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Already through: Garbiñe Muguruza. There were 14 breaks, and it took her three sets and seven match points, but Muguruza has to feel good about getting her first win in three tries over Dayana Yastremska on Sunday. We’ll see where it leads the former No. 1; she’s projected to play Svitolina in the third round.
*Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$1,937,740; 500 ranking points
Red clay
Draw is here*
When the Rio Open started in 2014, the men’s tour had high hopes that a new, 500-level event would elevate the status of the ATP’s under-publicized Golden Swing through South America. That year, things got off to a strong start when Rafael Nadal won the first edition of the tournament.
But dreams of Nadal’s fellow elite players—the Djokovics, Federers, even the Del Potros of the world—making the trip south each year have failed to materialize. Instead, Delpo heads north each winter, to Delray Beach, while Nadal travels to Acapulco. In both places, they can get a head start on the hard courts that await them in Indian Wells and Miami.
That leaves this year’s draw in Rio, despite the extra ranking points and bigger purse, looking much like its fellow South American clay-court draws. Very much like, actually. Last week in Buenos Aires, the top four seeds were Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini, Marco Cecchinato, and Diego Schwartzman. They are again this week.
*Marseille, France
$950,000; 250 ranking points
Indoor hard court
Draw is here*
Were we wrong to anoint Stefanos Tsitsipas the heir to Roger Federer’s one-handed-backhand throne in Melbourne? In the two events he’s played since, in Sofia and Marseille, Tsitsipas has lost early. Now he’ll get another chance, on another indoor hard court, to recover some of his January momentum. Tsitsipas is the top seed here, in a draw that also includes Borna Coric, David Goffin, Denis Shapovalov and this weekend’s winner in Rotterdam, Gael Monfils.
First-round match to watch: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Andrey Rublev
