Everything you need to know heading into the European clay-court season
The Hologic WTA Tour calendar shifts gears to the European clay-court season for the next six weeks, leading up to Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season.
Looking back at the 2022 European clay-court season
During the clay-court lead-up to 2022 Roland Garros, World No.1 Iga Swiatek View Profile extended her win streak with titles at Stuttgart and Rome, while Ons Jabeur View Profile had a leading 13 match-wins across the same three events.
The stage is set in Stuttgart 👀
— wta (@WTA) April 16, 2023
The draw has been released and it features 9 of the Top 10 players!
Title winners
Stuttgart (WTA 500): Iga Swiatek View Profile
Istanbul (WTA 250): Anastasia Potapova View Profile
Madrid (WTA 1000): Ons Jabeur View Profile
Rome (WTA 1000): Iga Swiatek View Profile
Rabat (WTA 250): Martina Trevisan View Profile
Strasbourg (WTA 250): Angelique Kerber
Most main-draw match-wins
13-2 Ons Jabeur View Profile : Stuttgart QF, Madrid Won, Rome Runner-Up
9-0 Iga Swiatek View Profile : Stuttgart Won, Rome Won
8-3 Jil Teichmann View Profile : Istanbul R16, Madrid SF, Rome QF
7-3 Daria Kasatkina View Profile : Stuttgart R16, Madrid R16, Rome SF
Most rankings points earned
Ons Jabeur View Profile : 1,685
Iga Swiatek View Profile : 1,370
Jessica Pegula View Profile : 755
Aryna Sabalenka View Profile : 665
Jil Teichmann View Profile : 610
Back on red clay 🧡
— wta (@WTA) April 16, 2023
The defending @PorscheTennis champ is back, @iga_swiatek! pic.twitter.com/B3Ox3L0rh4
Looking ahead
Top 20 schedule
Iga Swiatek View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Aryna Sabalenka View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Jessica Pegula View Profile : Madrid, Rome
Ons Jabeur View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Caroline Garcia View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Coco Gauff View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Elena Rybakina View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Daria Kasatkina View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Maria Sakkari View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Petra Kvitova: Madrid, Rome
Belinda Bencic View Profile : Madrid, Rome
Barbora Krejcikova View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Veronika Kudermetova View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Beatriz Haddad Maia View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Liudmila Samsonova View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Victoria Azarenka View Profile : Madrid, Rome
Karolina Pliskova View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Ekaterina Alexandrova View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Magda Linette View Profile : Madrid, Rome
Martina Trevisan View Profile : Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome
Withdrawals
Petra Kvitova: Stuttgart
Belinda Bencic View Profile : Stuttgart
Most points to defend leading up to Roland Garros
Players in the Top 20
1,685: Ons Jabeur View Profile
1,370: Iga Swiatek View Profile
755: Jessica Pegula View Profile
665: Aryna Sabalenka View Profile
535: Ekaterina Alexandrova View Profile
Clay-court by the numbers
12: Of the 12 clay-court tournaments current World No.1 Iga Swiatek View Profile has played, she has won five titles, while finishing as runner-up once.
108: Among those currently in the Top 100, Sara Errani View Profile has played the most clay-court tournaments, competing at 108 tour-level events. She has won seven clay-court titles, all coming at the WTA 250 level, most recently at 2015 Rio de Janeiro.
100: Among the current Top 50, four women own 100-plus clay-court match-wins: Simona Halep (142), Victoria Azarenka View Profile (110), Irina Camelia-Begu (104) and Petra Kvitova (101).
Best results at upcoming events
Stuttgart
Most wins
16-8: Angelique Kerber
15-7: Svetlana Kuznetsova
14-5: Laura Siegemund View Profile
13-8: Petra Kvitova
12-5: Anett Kontaveit
11-5: Karolina Pliskova View Profile
Last five Stuttgart champions: Iga Swiatek View Profile (2022), Ashleigh Barty (2021), Petra Kvitova (2019), Karolina Pliskova View Profile (2018), Laura Siegemund View Profile (2017)
Madrid
Most wins
32-9: Petra Kvitova (tournament record)
30-9: Simona Halep
21-9: Victoria Azarenka View Profile
14-13: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova View Profile
Last five Madrid champions: Ons Jabeur View Profile (2022), Aryna Sabalenka View Profile (2021), Kiki Bertens (2019), Petra Kvitova (2018), Simona Halep (2017)
Rome
Most wins
34-15: Venus Williams
25-16: Svetlana Kuznetsova
24-12: Victoria Azaenka
21-9: Simona Halep
16-9: Garbine Muguruza
15-6: Elina Svitolina View Profile
15-7: Karolina Pliskova View Profile
Last five Rome champions: Iga Swiatek View Profile (2022, 2021), Simona Halep (2020), Karolina Pliskova View Profile (2019), Elina Svitolina View Profile (2018)
Rabat
Most wins
12-4: Simona Halep
9-3: Ajla Tomljanovic View Profile
Last five Rabat champions: Martina Trevisan View Profile (2022), Maria Sakkari View Profile (2019), Elise Mertens View Profile (2018), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova View Profile (2017), Timea Bacsinszky (2016)
Strasbourg
Most wins
14-6: Peng Shuai
14-9: Alize Cornet
12-4: Caroline Garcia View Profile
8-7: Magda Linette View Profile
8-8: Elena Vesnina
Last five Strasbourg champions: Angelique Kerber (2022), Barbora Krejcikova View Profile (2021), Elina Svitolina View Profile (2020), Dayana Yastremska View Profile (2019), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova View Profile (2018)
WTA 125
There are four WTA 125 tournaments in the weeks leading up to Roland Garros: Saint Malo, France; Reus, Spain; Florence, Italy and Paris, France.
More on the WTA 125s
97: There have been 97 WTA 125 tournaments staged since the level was introduced in 2012.
4: Mayar Sherif View Profile has won four titles at the WTA 125 level, the most among all players, followed by Ekaterina Alexandrova View Profile (3), Vitalia Diatchenko (3), Alison van Uytvanck (3) and Zheng Saisai (3).
26: Japan’s Misaki Doi has made the most appearances at the WTA 125 level.
46: Zheng Saisai has won the most matches at the WTA 125 level, posting a 46-16 record. Her 62 matches are also the most played at the level.
31: Mayar Sherif View Profile has won 31 matches at this level on clay, the most among all players, posting a 31-6 record. She has won the title at four of the 10 clay-court WTA 125 tournaments she has played.
Players with most match-wins at WTA 125 on clay
28: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova View Profile
