Week #29 preview: Stanford, Bad Gastein

Stanford (USA), Tier II, $600,000
Pre-US Open season starts with a Tier II in Stanford. The tournament will feature eight Top-20 players and Serena Williams as the top favourite for the title. Russians Vera Zvonareva, Anna Chakvetadze and Nadia Petrova, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, French Marion Bartoli, Swiss Patty Schnyder and Italian Francesca Schiavone are the other seeded players. On the other hand, American veteran Lindsay Davenport will try to get back into her best form after a few months out.

Bad Gastein (AUT), Tier III, $175,000
Small events keep on running across Europe and next stop is Bad Gastein in Austria. As last week in Budapest, Hungarian Agnes Szavay and French Alize Cornet will be the top favourites for the title, along with Danish teen Caroline Wozniacki. Palermo winner and runner-up, Sara Errani and Mariya Koryttseva, should be also taken into account.