Week #18 preview: Rome, Estoril

Rome (ITA), Premier, $2,000,000
One of the biggest tournaments on clay, the Premier event held in Rome will feature 13 of the Top-15 players, with the only absences of Elena Dementieva and injured Vera Zvonareva. There are a lot of candidates for the title, including the Williams sisters, Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, the Russian squad headed by Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova and youngsters Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska and Alize Cornet. Local players, headed by Flavia Pennetta, veteran Amelie Mauresmo and clay specialists such as Spanish Anabel Medina and Carla Suarez will look for some upsets to reach the final rounds.

Estoril (POR), International, $220,000
As every year, Portuguese city of Estoril hosts a small combined ATP/WTA tournament. Concerning the women's side, the draw is very open and there are no clear favourites, wtih Czechs Benesova and Kvitova, Russians Kirilenko and Makarova, Germans Lisicki and Groenefeld, Romanian Cirstea and Israeli Peer as seeded players. It is remarkable also the presence of 38-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm.