Week in preview: Carlos Alcaraz and Anett Kontaveit headline Hamburg European Open, Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini head to Gstaad for Swiss Open
Quite a few big names are in action this week as the clay season continues post Wimbledon. The Hamburg European Open, a combined ATP and WTA event, is the biggest tournament scheduled for this week, with Carlos Alcaraz and Anett Kontaveit leading the draws.
The Swiss Open in Gstaad is another ATP tournament taking place this week. 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem, along with Grand Slam finalists Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini, lead the pack. The Palermo Ladies Open, which is headlined by home favorite and this year's French Open semifinalist Martina Trevisan, is the third and final tournament of the week.
Here's a preview of all the action happening this week:
Hamburg European Open - ATP 500 and WTA 250
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz is making his debut in Hamburg and is one of the favorites to win the title. Fellow top 10 player and former champion Andrey Rublev is also present.
the beast!! #HamburgOpen @carlosalcaraz
Alway good and intense session with Carlitos🤜🏻🤛🏻🎾🔥 the beast!! #HamburgOpen @carlosalcaraz https://t.co/DXQq3QnOLt
Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta, Karen Khachanov, Holger Rune, and Aslan Karatsev are other players of note. Francisco Cerundolo, who won his maiden ATP title in Bastad over the weekend, is also in the mix.
On the women's side, Anett Kontaveit took a last-minute wildcard to compete in the Hamburg European Open and is the only top-10 player in the draw. The Estonian hasn't been able to put her best foot forward in recent months due to the lingering after-effects of COVID-19. She'll be aiming for a return to form here.
World No. 12 Daria Kasatkina, 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, defending champion Elena-Gabriela Ruse, 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Jule Niemeier, and home favorite Andrea Petkovic are some of the other prominent names participating here.
Swiss Open (ATP 250)
Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini are the top two seeds at the Swiss Open in Gstaad. The former is the defending champion as well. With his title defense coming to an early end at last week's Nordea Open, he will be aiming for a better run here.
Berrettini's incredible grass season ended on a sour note. Having won two titles in the lead-up to Wimbledon, he was unable to compete in the grasscourt Major after testing positive for COVID-19. The Italian will be keen to continue his winning ways here as well.
Reporting for duty: Matteo Berrettini 🙌🔨🇮🇹
@MattBerrettini | #ThisIsTennis https://t.co/Kh4g0QgegG
Dominic Thiem finally notched up some victories by reaching the quarterfinals of the Nordea Open. He'll look to build upon his run from last week by doing well in Gstaad too. Roberto Bautista Agut, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Cristian Garin are some of the other players of interest here.
Palermo Ladies Open - WTA 250
Martina Trevisan headlines the second WTA tournament taking place this week in her native Italy - the Palermo Ladies Open. Danielle Collins is the defending champion, but isn't participating this year.
Caroline Carcia has been one of the most in-form players over the past month. She won the Bad Homburg Open, reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and then the semi-finals of the Lausanne Open last week. She will be keen to keep the momentum going in Palermo as well.
Zhang Shuai, Yulia Putintseva, Sara Errani, and Sara Sorribes Tormo are some of the other notable names in the mix here.