Stuttgart draw: Rybakina and Swiatek lead top half loaded with former champions

The spring clay-court season will heat up at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix beginning Monday, with six of the Top 10 in the PIF WTA Rankings playing their first matches on the surface over the next week. Following the pre-tournament withdrawal of World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a four-time finalist, World No. 2 Elena Rybakina leads the field. Coco Gauff is seeded second.

Having not yet reached a semifinal on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz this season, No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek hopes that a return to her favored surface, with a new coach by her side, will improve her fortunes. The winner of four Roland Garros titles landed in the top half with Rybakina, while Elina Svitolina rounds out the top seeds and joins Gauff in the bottom half.

Below is a full breakdown of each section of the draw, including first-round matches to keep a close eye on and potential quarterfinal showdowns. And to see the full draw, click here.

Top Half

After announcing her split with coach Wim Fissette following a second-round loss at the Miami Open to compatriot Magda Linette, six-time major champion Swiatek announced just over a week ago that she hired Francisco Roig, a longtime figure in Rafael Nadal's coaching team. Swiatek spent the last week training with Roig at Nadal's namesake tennis academy in Mallorca.

The Pole is bidding for her third Stuttgart title, having claimed the trophy -- and the Porsche car that comes with it -- in 2022 and 2023. 

Rybakina and Swiatek are joined in the top half by two more previous winners -- Laura Siegemund and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko. 2017 champion Siegemund could face Swiatek in the second round, should she win against Magdalena Frech, while Ostapenko begins an uphill climb to her title defense against No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva.

Ostapenko and Andreeva have not yet faced each other in singles -- but the Latvian, famously, is 6-0 against Swiatek. Two wins for both players would see them play again, in the quarterfinals.

Best of the rest: The winner of the all-southpaw first round between Alexandra Eala and Leylah Fernandez could be a bracket buster in Rybakina's quarter. The winner will face either No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini or a qualifier in the opening round.

Rybakina, meanwhile, will face either wild card Tamara Korpatsch or Diana Shnaider in her first clay-court match of the season.

Bottom Half

Defending French Open champion Gauff will start her clay-court campaign against either Liudmila Samsonova or Antonia Ruzic as she returns to Stuttgart for a fourth time. She has yet to advance past the quarterfinals, but has been given a friendly draw to do so this year.

The American is a combined 14-0 all-time against some of the most notable players in her quarter: She is 3-0 against Samsonova, 5-0 against Elise Mertens, and 6-0 against No. 7 seed Karolina Muchova -- her projected quarterfinal foe. However, she has a losing career record against Svitolina, who she could face in the quarterfinal. The Ukrainian has won both of their previous matches this year, and three of their five all-time -- though all five have come on hard courts.

Best of the rest: Former World No. 2 Paula Badosa has been given a wild card to the event, and faces German Eva Lys first up. The winner will advance to a second-round clash with Svitolina.c