5 top players who will play at Stuttgart ft. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini
The clay season is done and dusted with the conclusion of the French Open on Sunday. Iga Swiatek continued her dominance by winning the women's title and tying Venus Williams' 35-match winning streak. Rafael Nadal scripted more history with his victory, claiming a record-extending 14th title in Paris along with a 22nd Grand Slam title overall.
But there's no time to rest; players will switch their focus from red dirt to lush green as the grass season is set to begin immediately. This week, there are a total of four tournaments happening across the ATP and WTA tours. A couple of 250 level events across both tours will witness players beginning their preparations for Wimbledon.
The Stuttgart Open, now known as the BOSS Open for sponsorship reasons, is one of the four tournaments taking place this week. Until 2014, the tournament was played on clay, but switched to grass in 2015. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem are among the past champions at the event.
Marin Cilic, who reached the semifinals at the French Open, is the defending champion, but chose not to compete this year. Teenager Holger Rune, who made it to the quarterfinals in Paris, withdrew from the tournament. Americans Reilly Opelka and Sebastian Korda also pulled out.
Despite the withdrawals, there's plenty of star power with quite a few high-profile names in the draw. So let's take a look at the five top players competing in Stuttgart:
#1 Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas had a great clay season in the lead-up to the French Open. Many expected him to reach the final yet again, but he lost in the fourth round to Holger Rune.
The Greek didn't play any warm-up events prior to Wimbledon last year. The lack of preparation came back to bite him as he lost in the first round of the grass court Major to Frances Tiafoe. Tsitsipas has now taken a last-minute wildcard to compete in Stuttgart. He's the top seed and has received a first-round bye.
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Tsitsipas will start against either Maxime Cressy or Dominic Stricker and could potentially meet former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.
#2 Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini withdrew from the Miami Open in March due to an injury to his right hand and subsequently underwent surgery on the same. He missed the entire clay season and is set to make his comeback at Stuttgart. The Italian won the tournament in 2019 without dropping a set.
Berrettini is a dangerous player on grass, winning two titles on the surface. He also reached the Wimbledon final last year, going down to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four sets. But after being away from the tour for almost three months, the big-serving Italian is bound to be rusty.
#BOSSOPENMatteo has a message for you. We can‘t wait 😍 #BOSSOPEN https://t.co/eB0fsCTCbY
However, Berrettini has shown in the past that he's able to get back into competitive shape in no time. He was forced to withdraw from the 2021 ATP Finals due to an abdominal injury towards the end of last year. He recovered well and made it to the semifinals of the Australian Open at the start of the 2022 season. He has been training for quite some time now and seems to be in good shape heading into Stuttgart.
Berrettini, seeded second, is the recipient of a first-round bye and will face either Radu Albot or Joao Sousa in the second round.
#3 Hubert Hurkacz
Hurbert Hurkacz ended his clay season by reaching the fourth round of the French Open for the first time in his career. He has now set his sights upon the grass court season. He reached his first and only Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year.
Hurkacz will look to better his performance on grass this year. He's yet to win a title or reach a final on the surface. He made his debut in Stuttgart last year, but was knocked out in the first round.
As the third seed, Hurkacz received a bye into the second round. He'll kick off his campaign against either Marton Fucsovics or Jurij Rodionov.
#4 Andy Murray
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray has cemented his status as one of the best grasscourt players of his generation, as evidenced by his two Wimbledon titles. The Brit has made considerable progress this year, making his way back into the top 70 of the rankings.
Murray competed in just one tournament on clay this year. After initially deciding to skip the entire clay season, he decided to participate in the Madrid Open. He made it to the third round after wins over Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov. However, he had to withdraw prior to his highly anticipated match against Novak Djokovic due to illness.
Murray then skipped the French Open and got a headstart on his grass season by competing in a Challenger event. He made it to the semifinals of the Surbiton Trophy, losing to Denis Kudla in three sets.
Murray will be making his debut in Stuttgart this year. He will take on Christopher O'Connell in the first round, with a potential quarter-final clash against Tsitsipas on the horizon.
#5 Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios competed in only one event on clay this year at the ATP 250 in Houston. Following his semi-final defeat, he opted to skip the rest of the clay season. His highlight of the year remains winning the doubles title alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2022 Australian Open.
Kyrgios will return to competitive tennis after a two-month hiatus. He'll be making his comeback in Stuttgart and is up against Jiri Lehecka in the first round. He has previously competed here twice, with a semi-final appearance in 2018 being his best result.
Kyrgios' last outing in Stuttgart ended with a loss to eventual champion Berrettini in the first round. The Australian is a decent player on grass, though he is yet to reach a final or win a title on the surface. He reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon on his debut in 2014, famously upsetting Rafael Nadal along the way.