A Shot at the Spotlight

With the women's start of the U.S. Open Series still a few days away, this isn't a huge week for the ladies of tennis -- in fact no one in the top forty is playing either of the two WTA level events being held this week*. But that doesn't mean the players on court don't have a big chance to make a name for themselves -- a couple who've earned seeds for the first time in their careers have a shot at shining as a favorite, while others, out to take advantage while the cats are away, could really tear some big holes in the draws.

At the Brasil Cup in Florianopolis, a talented Tatjana Maria -- she beat Genie Bouchard in Miami -- took the top seed, but was ousted by often overlooked Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. The winning Spaniard has struggled a bit since breaking the seal last year in Marrakech, but with a quarterfinal set against an on-the-mend Anastasia Sevastova, stands a good shot at making a run to at least the final four. Her bigger threat lies a little ways down the road, when she's slated to meet fourth seed Teliana Pereira in the semis. The Brazilian put together a nice win streak on clay earlier in the year, following up an ITF trophy in Medellin with a Tour title in Bogota. Just a hair off her best ranking, she's gotten wins over Tamira Paszek, Francesca Schiavone and Elina Svitolina already this year, and could have homefield advantage during her run here. But perhaps the best opportunity lies with Germany's Annika Beck -- the twenty-one year old, who picked up her first championship in Luxembourg last year, has had some ups and down this year, but she took a set off Simona Halep in Shenzhen and stunned Aga Radwanska in her French Open first round. No one in her half of the draw has a singles crown to her name -- fifth seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands may have won a couple Major doubles, but she's still in triple digits on her own -- and with everyone expected to beat her already out of contention, Beck might just be able to ride the wave to a title.

Things have been even more interesting in Baku, where former Grand Slam champ Francesca Schiavone and last year's Aussie finalist had the potential to outplay their sub-fifty rankings and get their years back on track -- but neither was able to make it out of the first round. Instead Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is left to carry the torch for the favorites -- the top seed has fallen to #42 in the world on the heels of a couple early exits at the Majors and only one quarterfinal showing so far this year. And there will be plenty of players out there looking to keep her from advancing much farther -- Donna Vekic, last year's titleist in Kuala Lumpur, has been trying to recapture that glory all year long, playing qualifying rounds at ITF events and falling well out of the top hundred, but she opened her run in Azerbaijan with a win over Schiavone and followed up with a win over Lin Zhu. She'll face one of two qualifiers in the next round, though, and if she's back in form could make a nice Cinderella run here. And Russia's Alexandra Panova, who came oh-so-close to defeating Maria Sharapova in Melbourne, could make a run here too -- after beating doubles specialist Andrea Hlavackova earlier today, she'll likely face feisty Nürnberg champ Karin Knapp in the quarters. The Italian is far from an easy mark, but she's played a lot of tennis recently and Panova might just be able to take advantage.

While the spoils may not seem that great at these lesser-profile events, with the fields as wide open as they are, there's no denying that there's a lot of opportunity for everyone in the running. And whoever can take advantage might just set herself up for some even bigger rewards down the road.

* World #25 Jelena Jankovic has the top seed at a 125K event in Nanching. The second seed there is #66 Saisai Zheng, and number three is ranked out of the top hundred. While she certainly could be tested this week, it seems pretty important that she walk away with a trophy.

Squeaking in the Wins

It always surprises me how many top tier players play the Latin clay court swing just before the start of Indian Wells and Miami, and this year it seems more than usual have made the trip south of the border. And while many are considered favorites in their draws, no victories should be taken for granted, and we could see more than a couple new faces making their way to championship weekend.

Carla Suarez Navarro may be the top seed at the Brazil Tennis Cup, but she's one of only two players left in the draw still looking for her first title. She's been solid so far, but with a meeting today against Melbourne spoiler Monica Niculescu she will be tested soon, and still other players in this field could make a play for the title too. Young Garbine Muguruza has put together a more-than-impressive 13-3 record so far this year and picked up her first crown as a qualifier in Hobart. She's already pulled off upsets of players like Kirsten Flipkens and Caroline Wozniacki this year, so she shouldn't be intimidated by any of her potential challengers. But Alexandra Dulgheru also looks poised for a comeback -- once ranked #26 in the world, she's struggled a bit recently. But the Romanian hasn't dropped a set yet in Florianopolis and, slated to meet Klara Zakopalova, who she's beaten on dirt before, she could keep her streak going.

Over in Sao Paulo a couple men and trying to launch comebacks themselves. Juan Monaco, a top ten player less than two years ago, is now out of the top forty. That's enough to make him a fourth seed here, but with only one win on the season, he'll be a long shot for this title. And Nicolas Almagro, usually a force this time of year -- a full half of his twelve titles have come in LatAm -- skipped this year's Australian Open with a shoulder injury and fell in his opener here to Federico Delbonis. My eyes instead will be on Thomaz Bellucci who's already ousted eighth seed Santiago Giraldo and could have a pretty open field from here on out. It's been almost two years since his last title, but he's scored wins over players like Jerzy Janowicz, Grigor Dimitrov and David Ferrer since then, so it wouldn't be too much to ask for a few more upsets in his homeland this week.

A little to the north of Brazil, Melbourne Cinderellas Dominika Cibulkova and Eugenie Bouchard have been turning around their bad luck since the Aussie Open. Both have reached the Acapulco quarters without dropping a set and hope to prove their runs Down Under were no fluke, but either could be surprised in the remaining days. France's Caroline Garcia once held a set and a break lead over Maria Sharapova at Roland Garros, but has spent most of her time since then on the ITF circuit. She scored her first two wins of the season in Mexico though and should arguably be stronger on this surface than her next opponent, Bouchard. And Ajla Tomljanovic, who took Sloane Stephens to three sets in Melbourne, has lost just seven games in her first two rounds here. She holds a 2-1 record against Shuai Zhang, too, and so could earn entry to the semis with a win today. And there's no reason either of these ladies couldn't go even farther.

The draws are a bit more intimidating on the men's side, though, with three-time champion David Ferrer and double-Major winner Andy Murray leading the pack. But lower seeds like Delray finalist Kevin Anderson and Marseille titleist Ernests Gulbis have been just as strong the last few weeks and should put up a fight for the title. But one-time world #13 Alexandr Dolgopolov could be the unseeded spoiler in this bracket -- the Ukrainian star is coming off a final run in Rio during which he beat Ferrer handily and opened in Acapulco with a straight set win over Vasek Pospisil. He'll face big-serving Ivo Karlovic next, though, and that's clearly no easy task, but the way Dolgo's been playing, I wouldn't put a big win past him.

Whether these players can fare as well once they hit the hard courts remains to be seen, but it might be a smart move to get in a couple big wins before making the turf switch. And if they're able to notch a couple big wins now, there's no telling what kind of confidence that'll give them down the road.