Watch List: Roger Federer makes his Istanbul debut, Andy Murray in Munich
The Watch List highlights the must-know storylines for the upcoming week in tennis. This week the calendar is scattered with five smaller tournaments in Europe and Africa, but what they lack in point value they make up for in marquee value: Roger Federer and Andy Murray are back in action as they look to find their games on clay.
Istanbul Open
No. 2 Roger Federer headlines the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, the first ATP tour event in Turkey. The ATP 250 tournament will be played at the Koza World of Sport facility, which features a 7,500 seat center court with a retractable roof. Federer is the top seed with Grigor Dimitrov as the No. 2 seed. Federer is looking to rebound from a third round loss to Gael Monfils at the Monte Carlo Masters. He has a bye into the second round and will open against either Turkey's Marcel Ilhan or Jarkko Nieminen.
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Munich Open
No. 3 Andy Murray returns to action as the top seed at the Munich Open, his first tournament since getting married two weeks ago. Munich will be Murray's first clay tournament of the season. Although it is also an ATP 250, Munich has the stronger field compared to Istanbul. Murray leads a field that includes No. 2 seed Monfils, Roberto Bautista Agut, and David Goffin, along with Barcelona Open finalist Pablo Andujar, Bucharest finalist Jiri Vesely, Fabio Fognii, and Bernard Tomic. Defending champion Martin Klizan, who won Casablanca earlier this month, is also in the draw.
Prague Open
Aside from No. 4 Petra Kvitova, if you've got a Czech passport you're playing the inaugural Prague Open. No. 12 Karolina Pliskova is the top seed, quite an accomplishment given she was ranked No. 66 a year ago. Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, with Svetlana Kuznetsova rounding out the field. The field is relatively strong at this International-level tournament, with Alize Cornet, Camila Giorgi, and Belinda Bencic also in the draw. Stuttgart semifinalist Madison Brengle and CoCo Vandeweghe represent the American interests in Prague.
Marrakech Grand Prix
Garbine Muguruza took a wildcard into the tournament last week and leads the International-level tournament as the top seed. Timea Bacsinszky, who has lost just one match since the Australian Open -- and that was to Serena Williams -- is the No. 2 seed, with Flavia Pennetta and Elina Svitolina rounding out the top four seeds.
Estoril Open
Feliciano Lopez and Kevin Anderson are the top two seeds at the ATP 250 in Estoril, Portugal. The field includes No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo, Nick Kyrgios, Borna Coric, and Bucharest champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
