ATP/WTA Previews: Nadal in Barcelona, Loaded WTA Stuttgart

PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX
Stuttgart, Germany; Surface: clay
ADHEREL
Seeds: Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Ekaterina Makarova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Carla Suarez Navarro

Floaters: Angie Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Andrea Petkovic, Lucie Safarova, Sara Errani, Garbine Muguruza

Notes: All eight seeds are Top 10 ranked…The top four seeds all receive byes but tough possible early openers include (1) Sharapova vs. Angie Kerber, (3) Kvitova vs. Kuznetsova, (8) Suarez Navarro vs. Petkovic, (4) Wozniacki vs. Safarova, (7) Radwanska vs. Errani, and (2) Halep vs. Muguruza…Main draw wildcards went to Germans Julia “Gorgeous” Goerges and Carina Witthoft…Pulling from the draw were Eugenie Bouchard after an 0-2 effort in Fed Cup, former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic and Peng Shuai…Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza are the top seeds in singles…Returning former champs in the field are the three-time-running winner Sharapova (2014-12), Goerges (2011), and Kuznetsova (2009).

BARCELONA OPEN BANC SABADELL
Barcelona, Spain; Surface: clay

Seeds: Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini, Kei Nishikori, Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro, Jerzy Janowicz, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ernests Gulbis, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fernando Verdasco, Marin Cilic, Feliciano Lopez, Marcel Granollers, Dmitry Tursunov, Benoit Paire

Floaters: Dominic Thiem, Juan Monaco, Fernando Verdasco, Nicolas Almagro

Notes: Top seed Rafael Nadal is shooting for a ninth career Barcelona title after losing in the quarterfinals last year to Nicolas Almagro…Potential tough openers for seeds (1) Nadal vs. Almagro, (4) Cilic vs. Thiem, (14) Klizan vs. Monaco, and (13) Fognini vs. Verdasco…Wildcards went to Spaniards Roberto Carballes Baena, Al Montanes and Swede Elias Ymer…David Ferrer is 0-4 in Barcelona finals…Seeds Fabio Fognini, Jerzy Janiwicz and Alexandr Dolgopolov are a combined 0-10 in Barcelona…Kei Nishikoi beat Santiago Giraldo in last year’s final…Returning former champs in the final are Nishikori (2014), Nadal (2013-11,’09-05), Verdasco (2010) and Robredo (2004).

BRD NASTASE TIRIAC TROPHY
Bucharest, Romania; Surface: clay

Seeds: Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Ivo Karlovic, Lukas Rosol, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Viktor Troicki, Jiri Vesely, Simone Bolelli

Floaters: Borna Coric, Sergiy Stakhovsky

Notes: Not a super-deep field…(3) Karlovic making his tournament debut after a bye could face a tough start against either Coric or Stakhovsky…Wildcards went to Janko Tipsarevic and Romanian Marius Copil…The absent Grigor Dmitrov beat Rosol in last year’s final…Former returning champions in the field are Rosol (2013), Simon (2012,’08-07), and Florian Mayer (2011).