Del Potro Heads Washington; ATP/WTA Previews

Citi Open
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.; Surface: hard

Men’s Seeds: Juan Martin Del Potro, Kei Nishikori, Tommy Haas, Milos Raonic, Gilles Simon, Sam Querrey, Kevin Anderson, John Isner, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Grigor Dimitrov, Julien Benneteau, Ivan Dodig, Bernard Tomic, Nikolay Davydenko, Marcos Baghdatis, Michael Llodra
ADHEREL
Men’s Floaters: Lleyton Hewitt, Ryan Harrison, Mardy Fish, Dmitry Tursunov, Radek “The Worm” Stepanek, James Blake, Gael “Force” Monfils, Igor Sijsling

Men’s Notes: Only one Top 10 player in Del Potro at the 500-level tournament…The 16 seeds receive opening-round byes…The seeded Feliciano Lopez pulls from the draw, with (17) Llodra inserted…Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also pulled…Tough starts for (1) Del Potro against the winner of the contentious Hewitt-Harrison meeting, (12) Benneteau after a bye likely facing Fish, (5) Simon after a bye likely facing Tursunov, (17) Llodra after a bye likely facing The Worm, (15) Davydenko after a bye likely facing Blake, (8) Isner after a bye likely facing Monfils, and (2) Nishikori after a bye likely facing the hot newcomer Sijsling…Seeds Raonic, Dodig, Tomic make debuts at the event…Wildcards went to Aussie James Duckworth, and Americans Steve Johnson, Denis Kudla and Jack Sock…Dolgopolov beat Haas in last year’s final…Returning champs in the field are Dolgopolov (2012), Stepanek (2011), Del Potro (2009-08), Hewitt (2004), and Blake (2002).

Women’s Seeds: Angelique Kerber, Sloane Stephens, Ekaterina Makarova, Alize Cornet, Sorana Cirstea, Mona Barthel, Magdalena Rybarikova, Madison Keys

Women’s Floaters: Eugenie Bouchard, Christina McHale, Yanina Wickmayer, Andrea Petkovic

Women’s Notes: One Top 10 player in the draw in Kerber…Potentially difficult openers for (7) Rybarikova vs. the American grinder McHale, (3) Makarova vs. the Canadian comer Bouchard, and (4) Cornet vs. the Belgian Wickmayer…Wildcards went to Kerber and Americans Beatrice Capra and former world No. 1 junior Taylor Townsend…Pulling from the tournament were Lauren Davis, Camila Giorgi, Simona Halep, Kaia Kanepi, Johanna Larsson, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Romina Oprandi and Nadia Petrova…Rybarikova, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenko in last year’s final, is the lone returning champion in the field.

Southern California Open
Carlsbad, Calif., U.S.A.; Surface: hard

Seeds: Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Roberta Vinci, Samantha Stosur, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Carla Suarez Navarro

Floaters: Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Dominika Cibulkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Varvara Lepchenko, Daniela Hantuchova

Notes: Three former No. 1s among the seeds…No Williams sisters but plenty of Top 10ers and floaters…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Tough openers for (1) Azarenka after a bye against Pennetta or Schiavone, (4) Vinci after a bye likely against the veteran Mattek-Sands, (7) Ivanovic vs. Cibulkova, (5) Stosur vs. the rolling Lepchenko, and (2) Radwanska after a bye likely vs. the veteran Hantuchova…Wildcards went to American Allie Kiick, France’s Virginie Razzano, and Stosur…Pulling from the event were Marion Bartoli, Kirsten Flipkens, Bojana Jovanovski, Kristina Mladenovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova…Martina Hingis and Hantuchova received a wildcard in doubles…Cibulkova beat Bartoli in the final last year…Returning champions in the field are Cibulkova (2012), Radwanska (2011), and Kuznetsova (2010).

bet-at-home Cup
Kitzbuhel, Austria; Surface: clay

Seeds: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Juan Monaco, Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco, Jurgen “Tuna” Melzer, Carlos Berlocq, Roberto Bautista Agut, Al Montanes, Marcel Granollers

Floaters: Horacio Zeballos, Thomaz Bellucci, Guillermo “G-Lo” Garcoa-Lopez, Daniel Brands

Notes: No Top 20 players in the draw…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Tough starts for (3) Hot Sauce after a bye meeting either Bellucci or G-Lo, and (5) Berlocq vs. the hot-handed German Brands who defeated Roger Federer last week…Wildcards went to Croatian Mate Pavic, and Austrians Dominic Thiem and Andreas “Don’t Be a” Haider-Maurer…Unseeded Robin Haase is the two-time defending champion, last year defeating Kohlschreiber in the final…No player has won the tournament three times in a row since its inception in 1970…Returning champions in the field are Haase (2012-11) and Monaco (2007).

 

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