All the big dogs take to the court on both the men’s and women’s sides in Cincinnati, which sees defending champ Roger Federer return to the court after skipping Montreal last week.

Sixteen of the Top 17 turn out this coming week for the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where world No. 1 Serena Williams will test the right elbow injury that has forced her to withdraw from her last two tournaments.

All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, but some potential interesting second-rounders with (12) Pospisil vs. (WC) Haas, (4) Gasquet vs. the hot-handed Muller, break-up boy (6) Dimitrov vs. the resurgent Baghdatis, and (7) Lopez vs. (WC) Hewitt on his retirement tour…

Notes: Tough draws go to (1) Ferrer after a bye potentially vs. Baghdatis…Wildcards went to Brits Kyle Edmund and James Ward, American Taylor Harry Fritz, and German Alexander Zverev…

Four Top 10 players on the WTA tour take to the grass in Birmingham, while Roger Federer leads in Halle, and Andy Murray, French Open champ Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal at the Queen’s Club during week #2 of the 2015 grasscourt season.

Notes: Gulbis is defending the Nice title (d. Federico Delbonis) then a Roland Garros semifinal…Gulbis is 1-11 win-loss this year…(8) Monaco could start against Querrey…Wildcards went to France’s Maxime Hamou and Lucas Pouille, and Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis…Withdrawing from the tournament were Simone Bolelli, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Martin Klizan, and Diego Schwartzman…Gulbis (2015) is the lone returning champ in the field.

Not a lot of floating talent in the field, with a potential tough start for (16) Watson vs. the riser Vekic; (1) Bouchard could face Stephens in the 3rd rd…Wildcards went to Bouchard and Americans Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sachia Vickery…

Venus Williams fell at the Miami Open Tuesday night.

All the hubbub surrounds Serena, but Venus is not ending her boycott since last playing in 2001. “I made my schedule up,” Venus said about missing IW again. “I’m entered in Miami, and that’s pretty much what it is. I haven’t really given a lot of thought to it. I have just been focusing on this year…I just respect every decision [Serena] makes, pretty much. It’s nothing complicated about it.”

Nadal a question mark after a cramp-ridden semifinal loss on Saturday at the Rio Open…Not a lot of early challenges besides (7) Andujar opening against Almagro…Wildcards went to Argentines Guido Andreozzi, Renzo Olivo and Horacio Zeballos…David Ferrer beat Fognini in last year’s final…Nadal is making his first appearance in Buenos Aires in 10 years…Ferrer passes on the opportunity to win a fourth consecutive Buenos Aires title in a row…Returning former champs in the field are Almagro (2011), Robredo (2009), and Juan Monaco (2007).

“Being in that stage a few times now in the finals, obviously you want to take it a little bit further, but it wasn’t there,” he Anderson, who dropped 12 aces on Nishikori in two sets. “I have a couple of other tournaments coming up now, so I can’t afford to dwell on this.”

…Venus Williams beat Cornet in last year’s final…Returning former champs in the field are Venus Williams (2014,’10-09), Kvitova (2013), Radwanska (2012), and Wozniacki (2011).

Tomas Berdych will try to defend his Rotterdam title Sunday against Stan Wawrinka.

The stars are coming out on week one, even uncharacteristically on the women’s side, as current No. 1 Novak Djokovic and former top dogs Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic compete at four events in week one of 2015.

Women’s Seeds: Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber, Eugenie Bouchard, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Sara Errani, Ekaterina Makarova, Lucie Safarova, Flavia Pennetta, Andrea Petkovic, Venus Williams