Swataker
The WTA500 Stuttgart station will kick off on April 18 local time, and the indoor clay event has always had a strong lineup, with seven of the world's top ten players, including ST World No. 1 Swatek. 2019 US Open champion Andreescu will make his season debut, and last year's US Open champion Raducannu will also make his WTA clay debut.
Top seed Swataker entered the clay season with 19 consecutive wins, with a bye in the first round and a win between Grubich and qualifiers in the second round. The quarter-finals are against last year's US Open champion Raducano, who will play a qualifier in the first round.
No. 4 seed Sakkari leads the 2/4 zone, and the Greek player also has a first-round bye, which will face the winner between last year's French Open semi-final four Zidan Seck and former tournament champion Sigmund. The district will host a high-profile first-round showdown, with No. 6 seed Ka Pliskova battling compatriot Kvitova for a second-round spot, and in the past four meetings, Kvitova has won three and lost, which will also be the first time the two have met since 2018.
The 3/4 zone is dominated by the 3rd seed Sabalenka, who reached the final in last year's tournament and lost to Barty to finish second. Sabalenka is expected to face Andreescu in the second round, who faces homegrown wild card player Niemeer in the first round. No. 5 seed Cantawirt will face three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber in the first round, who won the title in Stuttgart for two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016. Chinese player Zhang Shuai's first-round opponent is Russian adept Alexanderlova.
No. 2 seedEd Bardoza leads the 4/4 zone, and the second round will be played between Lebakina and a qualifier, which will also be Bardoza's first appearance in the women's singles main event in Stuttgart. No. 7 seed Abdul-Jabbar will face Czech star Vandrosova in the first round.
Quarter-final alignment:
Swatak vs Raducano
Sakari vs Ka-Pliskova
Sabalenka vs Contavita
Bardoza vs Abdul-Jabbar
The complete signature form is as follows:
(Text, Editor/Faye Wong, Photo/Visual China)