Week In Preview: Alcaraz returns to action in Buenos Aires, Swiatek back where it all began in Doha

WATCH: The last time we saw Carlos Alcaraz, he was making his Calvin Klein as the new face of the brand's 'Calvins or nothing' global campaign.

After flying off to four different continents last week, the players stay in their respective zones this time around. The North American men move from Dallas to Delray Beach; the South American men go from Cordoba to Buenos Aires; the European men trade Montpellier for Rotterdam; and the women travel from Abu Dhabi to Doha.

Along the way, a few prominent names will rejoin the tour, including 2022 year-end No. 1s Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, Australian Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the two top-ranked U.S. women—and doubles partners—Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.

Let’s see where they’ve landed in this week’s draws.

Argentina Open (ATP)

• Buenos Aires
• $711,600; ATP 250
• Red clay
• Draw is here

The return of Carlos Alcaraz is the story of the week. The last time we saw him, he was losing to Holger Rune in Bercy in November. After that, he was forced to miss the last major event of 2022, the ATP Finals, with an oblique tear, and the first major event of 2023, the Australian Open, with a right-leg injury. While he was sidelined, Novak Djokovic won both tournaments and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking from the young Spaniard.

Now it’s time for Alcaraz to begin his counterattack and try to wrest that ranking back. He has a lot to defend over the next three months, including 500-level titles in Rio and Barcelona, and 1000-level titles in Miami and Madrid. Perhaps wisely, he’ll start to shake the rust off at a 250, on his favorite surface. Alcaraz will play his first match against either Fabio Fognini or Laslo Djere.

Also here: Cameron Norrie, Lorenzo Musetti

First-round match to watch: Dominic Thiem vs. Alex Molcan

Qatar TotalEnergies Open (WTA)

• Doha
• $780,637; WTA 500
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Doha is where it all began for Iga Swiatek in 2022. It’s where she started the 37-match that lasted all the way to Wimbledon and eventually took her to world No. 1. Her 6-2, 6-0 win over Anett Kontaveit in the Doha final also foreshadowed the dominant way she would go about her business for the rest of the season.

Now Iga is back, and she could use another jump start. She’s still No. 1, but she failed to win either of the last two significant tournaments, the WTA Finals last fall and the Australian Open last month. Dominating this week’s Doha field will be a big ask, though. Much of the tour’s elite has also shown up for this 500, including Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia, Maria Sakkari, and Belinda Bencic, who is coming off a title run in Abu Dhabi this past week. Swiatek could face Danielle Collins and Bencic to start.

First-round matches to watch:

• Maria Sakkari vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Paula Badosa vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Madison Keys vs. Jelena Ostapenko

ABN Amro Open (ATP)

• Rotterdam, Netherlands
• $2,500,000; ATP 500
• Indoor hard court
• Draw is here

Rotterdam is the most lucrative event of the week, and the only 500 among the three men’s tournaments. From top to bottom, it has the strongest field, too.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev, fresh from success Down Under, are the No. 1 and 2 seeds. Felix Auger-Aliassime, the defending champion, comes next. Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz are No. 4 and 5, respectively. Former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, a third-round loser at the Australian Open, is all the way down at No. 6. Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev is No. 8. Jannik Sinner, champion in Montpellier this past week, isn’t even seeded.

This feels like an important week for Medvedev and FAA in particular. Both have sky’s-the-limit expectations for the future, but neither showed off their best to start the year in Melbourne.

First-round matches to watch:

• Andrey Rublev vs. Alex de Minaur
• Montpellier runner-up Maxime Cressy vs. Tim Van Rijthoven
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Daniil Medvedev vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• Alexander Zverev vs. Soonwoo Kwon

Potential second-round match to watch: Jannik Sinner vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas

Delray Beach Open (ATP)

• Delray Beach, Fla.
• $718,245; ATP 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

U.S. men’s tennis is in a better place than it’s been in quite a while, and you can get an idea of why in Delray. Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, J.J. Wolf, Ben Shelton, Mackenzie McDonald, Macros Giron, and John Isner are all in the field, and have all made a wave or two so far in 2023.

Shelton, the 20-year-old Florida Gator who shocked the world with his trip to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, will return to his home state—and face a pesky opening-round opponent in his countryman Giron.