The Week: Istanbul, Basel, Valencia

A preview of the fields this week as the women duke it out for 2012 bragging rights in Istanbul, and the men take a moment to celebrate the career of Juan Carlos Ferrero in Valencia.

By Nicholas McCarvel

Juan Carlos Ferrero retires at the 2012 Valencia Open this week

(October 22, 2012) -- A journalist colleague emailed me over the weekend laughing over the WTA’s photo shoot for this week’s TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul. He didn’t find comedy in the photo itself -- though the WTA’s continued over-glammification (do we really think Marion Bartoli picked out these heels?) is somewhat comical—but instead imagining this thought bubble from Serena Williams

“Who is that on the end in the purple? I swear I’ve seen her before, I just can’t put my finger on where!”

That player would be Sara Errani, who, along with Angelique Kerber, is one of two unlikely faces in Istanbul this year after terrific runs. But it’s fair to think that may as well have been Serena’s true confusion: she’s a devastating 35-5 in her career against the field, and 9-1 this year. So while Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova fight over the year-end No. 1 spot, all eyes will be on Serena. Surprised, anyone?

Meanwhile, the boys are in Basel and Valencia this week. More on them below.

ISTANBUL (View Site)

The ladies have been split into two groups in Istanbul, with Azarenka, Serena, Kerber and Li Na being put into the Red Group and Sharapova, Errani, Petra Kvitova, and Agnieszka Radwanska playing in the White Group. Each player will play one another in her group once, with the top two records moving on into the semifinal round.

Perhaps the only player’s form we have a true sense about is Azarenka, as the Belarussian stormed through the draws in Beijing and Linz to capture titles there. It’s been an underwhelming fall for Kvitova, who beat Vika for the Istanbul title a year ago: the Czech is 1-2 after her sizzling summer was subdued by Marion Bartoli at the U.S. Open (Sam Stosur is the first alternate here, followed by Bartoli).

And while Vika hasn’t lost a match since leaving New York (her only loss was a walkover against Kerber), Serena hasn’t played one. After her dramatic comeback against the world No. 1 six weeks ago, Serena pulled out of Beijing with a stomach bug and has been MIA otherwise. The round-robin format will help her get her feet on the ground, but should she lose her first match to Li or Kerber and then get Azarenka next, she could bow out early.

BASEL (View Draw)

What thanks does Roger Federer get for winning this title five of the six previous years? Almost none, it seems. Not only does the Fed Man have to play a first-round match (vs. Benjamin Becker), the Swiss No. 1 has challengers in Juan Martin del Potro, the No. 2 seed, as well as Richard Gasquet and countryman Stanislas Wawrinka.

But Federer has a sterling record at his home tournament: he’s 43-7 in 12 appearances, having five titles to his name and is a whopping 29-1 over the last six years. It was here that he played Andre Agassi in 1998 as a 17 year old in the first round (losing in straights), and two years later found himself in the final at the age of 19, losing in a five-set final to Thomas Enqvist.

American Brian Baker is the lone American representative in the draw here. The Nashville native is a wobbly 0-4 in main draw matches since the US Open, though he’s won a handful of qualifying matches. He gets Radek Stepanek in round one.

VALENCIA (View Draw)

The Valencia Open 500 is serving as a Spanish bicep flex (sorry, Rafa, not you) for tennis in that country this week, as nine of the 32 draw lines belong to Spaniards at this hard court (yes, hard court!) event. David Ferrer is the No. 1 seed while countryman Nicolas Almagro is seeded 6th.

It’s the last hurrah for former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champ calling it quits after 15 years on the ATP World Tour. Ferrero broke through in a year that saw Federer and Andy Roddick win their first major titles, but it was he and Roddick who were pushed to the side, along with Lleyton Hewitt and Magnus Norman (remember him?) as the generation of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic took over. Now ranked No. 161, the 32 year old, who is 479-261 with one of his 15 titles coming here, gets Almagro in round one.

Like Federer in Basel, Ferrer has his work cut out for him as No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is making a push for the World Tour Finals, as is No. 3 seed Janko Tisparevic, who has a legitimate shot. Juan Monaco is the fourth seed while John Isner, the American is No. 5. Sam Querrey and Rajeev Ram join Isner as the Yanks in Valencia this week.

(File Photo: Juan Carlos Ferrero at the U.S. Open; Credit: Corleve)