Murray Headlines ATP LA; Gstaad, Umag, Stanford, Istanbul Previews
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Farmers Classic
Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Surface: hard
Seeds: Andy Murray, Sam Querrey, Marcos Baghdatis, Feliciano Lopez, Ernests Gulbis, Janko Tipsarevic, Horacio Zeballos, Mardy Fish
ADHEREL
Floaters: Lukas Lacko, Xavier Malisse
Notes: wildcards went to James Blake and Ryan Sweeting, and Kevin Anderson received a special exempt after reaching the semis at Atlanta; (5) Gulbis could face an opening tester against the hot-handed Lacko; Murray debuts at the event; among the seeds, only Querrey and Fish have winning records in LA; last year Querrey won the title, beating Aussie Carsten Ball in the final; the five-time champion Bryan brothers are the top seeds in doubles; Querrey is the lone former singles champ in the field.
Studena Croatia Open
Umag, Croatia
Surface: clay
Seeds: Nikolay Davydenko, Jurgen Melzer, Ivan Ljubicic, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Philipp Petzschner, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Juan Ignacio Chela
Floaters: Potito Starace, Pablo Cuevas, Olivier “The Roach” Rochus
Notes: Openers of interest include (7) Stakhovsky vs. Starace, and (5) Petzschner vs. The Roach; wildcards went to Croats Antonio Veic, Ivan Dodig, and Franco Skugor; Ljubicic makes his 11th appearance at Umag; Davydenko beat Ferrero in the 2009 final; Davydenko is the lone returning singles champion in the field.
Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad
Gstaad, Switzerland
Surface: clay
Seeds: Mikhail Youzhny, Nicolas Almagro, Thomasz Bellucci, Al Montanes, Tommy Robredo, Victor Hanescu, Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu
Floaters: Hamburg winner Andrey Golubev, Jeremy Chardy, Marcel Granollers, 2009 runner-up Andreas Beck
Notes: Bellucci beat Beck in last year’s final; (8) Mathieu opens against Chardy in an all-French, and (2) Almagro against Granollers in an all-Spanish; returning champs in the field are Bellucci (2009), Hanescu (2008), Mathieu (2007) and Gasquet (2006).
Bank of the West Classic
Stanford, Calif., USA
Surface: hard
Seeds: Sam Stosur, Elena Dementieva, Aggie Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, Maria Sharapova, Shahar Peer, Yanina Wickmayer, Victoria Azarenka
Floaters: (WC) Ana Ivanovic, Melanie Oudin, Aleksandra Wozniak, Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Kirilenko, Jie Zheng, (WC) Dinara Safina, Alisa Kleybanova
Notes: More floater “stars” than seeded; former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport is playing doubles; the oldest women’s-only tournament on the WTA calendar; Bartoli is the defending champ, defeating Venus Williams in last year’s final; openers of interest are (4) Bartoli vs. American Playboy poser Ashley Harkleroad, (WC) Ivanovic vs. the Russian Kleybanova, Oudin vs. Wozniak, (6) Peer vs. Hantuchova, (5) Sharapova vs. Zheng, and second round (2) Dementieva vs. Safina; returning champs in the field are (2009) Bartoli and (2008) Wozniak.
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Istanbul Cup
Istanbul, Turkey
Surface: hard
Seeds: Francesca Schiavone, Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Yaroslava Shvedova, Tsvetana Pironkova, Andrea Petkovic, Klara Zakopalova, Patty Schnyder
Floaters: None
Notes: Neither players return from last year’s final, where Vera Dushevina defeated Lucie Hradecka.
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