Week #17 preview: Stuttgart, Fes

Stuttgart (GER), Premier, $700,000
The Premier tournament of Stuttgart, traditionally held in the autumn hard indoor season, changes this year of dates and surface and is held in the spring clay season. But some other things doesn't change, as the great level of the entry list for a tournament of its level and the bonus prize of a Porsche, main sponsor of the tournament, for the winner. 14 of the Top 20 players will play here, with Dinara Safina (WTA #1), Elena Dementieva (WTA #3) and Jelena Jankovic (WTA #4) as the top seeds, although youngsters Victoria Azarenka (WTA #8) and Caroline Wozniacki (WTA #11) should be also counted as favourites as they are probably the two players in the best form at the moment.

Fes (MAR), International, $220,000
WTA Tour makes a stop in Marocco for this International tournament, with Russian Maria Kirilenko and Spanish Anabel Medina as the biggest attractions. Nevertheless, they will not be the only favourites to the title, as young Russians Alisa Kleybanova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ekaterina Makarova, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, Israeli Shahar Peer and Italian Roberta Vinci, champion two weeks ago in Barcelona, should be also taken into account.