Week in Preview: Zverev and Shapovalov headline Munich, Estoril

After a frenetic four-tournament week, the tours take something of a breather for the next few days. The women are off entirely until Madrid, which starts next weekend, while the men have two 250s on the docket, in Munich and Estoril. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening, of course. Both of these draws have solid fields and headliners who could use a win or two. Here’s a look at how they might play out, and how they may affect the bigger clay events ahead.

BMW Open (ATP)

Munich

$600,000; ATP 250

Red clay

Draw is here

After a week off, Alexander Zverev returns to his home country as the top seed in a compact 28-player field. He’ll want to start getting a few clay-court matches and wins under his belt. Since beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Acapulco final five weeks ago, the German has mostly watched from the sidelines—he went out early in Miami and Monte Carlo—as his Greek peer broke through to a new level with his first Masters 1000 title. Zverev may start against countryman Maximilian Marterer; the three seeds in his half are Filip Krajinovic, Dusan Lajovic, and Jan-Lennard Struff.

The bottom half is headlined by two players who have made waves, in a positive way, this spring, Casper Ruud and Aslan Karatsev. Ruud, the No. 2 seed, reached the semis in Monte Carlo, while Karatsev knocked off Novak Djokovic in Belgrade for the biggest win of his meteoric 2021 rise.

Millennium Estoril Open (ATP)

Estoril, Portugal

$600,000; ATP 250

Red clay

Draw is here

Like his fellow top seed Zverev in Munich, Denis Shapovalov could use a few clay-court victories in Estoril. In his only tournament on the surface so far, he suffered a decisive defeat to his friend and countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime. This week Shapo will start against either Marcos Giron or Corentin Moutet. The highest seed in his half is No. 3 Ugo Humbert.

Speaking of players who will want to start generating some momentum before we get to Madrid, Rome, and Paris, Cristian Garin of Chile is the top seed in the bottom half here. The Chilean is an old-fashioned clay-court specialist who makes his living at this time of year, but who hasn’t done a whole lot so far. In Monte Carlo, he lost to Tsitsipas in the round of 16, and in Barcelona he made an opening-round exit to Kei Nishikori. This week Garin will start against either Juan Ignacio Londero or Richard Gasquet.

Also in the bottom half: Nishikori, France Tiafoe, and Barcelona quarterfinalist Cam Norrie.