Raducanu to take on Kerber in first round as WTA big guns gather in Stuttgart
Swiatek v Rybakina and Sabalenka v Gauff are the projected semi-finals in Stuttgart
Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu in Stuttgart
Image Credit: Imago / Zuma / Panoramic/ Tennis Majors
Eight of the world’s top 10 ranked women, including the top four – Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina, are in action at the WTA Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The top four seeds have received byes in the stacked draw, which has thrown up several enticing early round clashes.
None more than the first round clash between former world No 1 Angelique Kerber and former US Open winner Emma Raducanu – both working their way back from lengthy layoffs. The German, a two-time champion in Stuttgart, reached the last 16 in Miami while Raducanu, now ranked No 302, is coming off back-to-back three-set wins for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup. The winner of that match will face either eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko or Czech teen Linda Noskova in the second round.
World No 1 Iga Swiatek, looking for a hat-trick of titles in this WTA 500 event, is also in this quarter and faces Belgium’s Elise Mertens or local wildcard Tatjana Maria in the second round.
The Pole has Kazakh rival Elena Rybakina as her projected semi-final opponent. The former Wimbledon champion faces Barbora Krejcikova or Veronika Kudermetova in the second round and could meet seventh seed Ons Jabeur or world No 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova, a semi-finalist in Miami, in the last eight.
Sabalenka could meet close friend Badosa in round two again
In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Aryna Sabalenka could run into close friend and former world no 2 Paula Badosa in the second round if the Spaniard can beat qualifier Diana Shnaider in the opening round. The Belarusian also defeated Badosa in the second round in Miami last month.
Sabalenka is projected to meet sixth seed Marketa Vondrousova in the last eight. The Czech has a tough opening round assignment against Croatian Donna Vekic and a potential second round against either Liudmila Samsonova or Anastasia Potapova.
US Open champion Coco Gauff is seeded third and in the same half as Sabalenka. The American faces the winner of the clash between two qualifiers – Sachia Vickery and Aliaksandra Sasnovich – in the second round. The 20-year-old is drawn in the same quarters as fifth seed Qinwen Zheng, who faces Soran Cirstea in another mouth-watering first round showdown.
