Week in Preview: Djokovic makes his return, Alcaraz and Medvedev try to extend February successes

February goes out in customarily frenetic style, with five tournaments across three tournaments. Two of them—one men’s, one women’s—are in Mexico, and one is in Texas.

Slowly but surely, we can see the tours inching closer to their early March co-destination, when they gather again for the season’s first dual-gender Masters 1000, in Indian Wells.

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (ATP)

Dubai, UAE

$3,020,535; ATP 500

Hard court

Draw is here

Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz have been back for a couple of weeks; now it’s time for the sport’s third recent No. 1, Novak Djokovic, to make his first appearance since reclaiming the top spot in Australia. With his participation in Indian Wells and Miami still in doubt, due to U.S. Covid vaccine regulations, this may be his last chance to play and earn ranking points until the clay season begins in April.

Djokovic has won Dubai five times, including the 2020 edition, but he’ll have to negotiate his way through a strong field to grab title No. 6. Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, all Top Tenners, are here. If the seeds hold, Djokovic could face Medvedev, who is on a two-tournament win streak, in the semifinals.

First-round matches to watch:

• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Andy Murray
• Alexander Zverev vs. Jiri Lehecka
• Auger-Aliassime vs. Maxime Cressy

Abierto Mexicano Telcel (ATP)

Acapulco, Mexico

$2,178,980; ATP 500

Hard court

Draw is here

Alcaraz is the top seed in Acapulco, but how much tennis is going to be too much for him, coming off an injury? He has played nine matches over the last two weeks on clay, and now he’ll have to shift to hard courts.

On the other hand, the Spaniard is still just 19; he was surely champing at the bit to get back out on out after missing the ATP Finals and the Australian Open; and he’ll want to garner every ranking point he can in his race for No. 1 with Djokovic.

If Alcaraz does make it to Acapulco, he’ll find a very different field from those he’s faced so far in South America. Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, Frances Tiafoe, and Tommy Paul are proven hard-courters looking to ramp their seasons back up before Indian Wells.

First-round matches to watch:

• Alcaraz vs. Mackenzie McDonald
• Rune vs. Ben Shelton
• Fritz vs. John Isner
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Matteo Berrettini vs. Alex Molcan

Potential second-round match to watch:

• Ruud vs. J.J. Wolf

Abierto GNP Seguros (WTA)

Monterrey, Mexico

$259,303; WTA 250

Hard court

Draw is here

Caroline Garcia is ranked No. 5, near her career-high, but it feels as if she could use a good result. After reaching the final at home in Lyon, she went out in the second round and first round at Doha and Dubai.

At the start of the year, the Frenchwoman looked to be a contender for her first Grand Slam title. How long can she keep those expectations up? She’ll have an opportunity for a title in Monterrey, where she’ll be the only player in the Top 25.

Movistar Chile Open (ATP)

Santiago, Chile

$718,245; ATP 250

Red clay

Draw is here

Starting Monday, most of the men make the shift to hard courts, but the dyed-in-the-wool dirt-ballers stick it out for one more week on red clay in Santiago.

Lorenzo Musetti is the top-seeded of those dirt-ballers, and he also presents something of an interesting case at the moment. At 20, the Italian has won two titles and shown flashes of Top 10 brilliance, but he’s off to a slow start in 2023. He lost in the first round in Melbourne, the second round in Buenos Aires, and the first round in Rio. Here he’ll have a chance to get his season on track, on what should be his best surface.

ATX Open (WTA)

Austin, Texas

$259,303; WTA 250

Indoor hard court

Draw is here

The week’s lone U.S. tournament comes with a heavy American accent. Eleven of the 25 direct entrants into the draw are from the States. That includes a major winner in Sloane Stephens, a major runner-up in Danielle Collins, a recent first-time champion in Alycia Parks, and a local college hero in 21-year-old Peyton Stearns, who won the NCAA women’s singles title at the University of Texas.