Post AO Blues

ATP Cordoba, Montpellier, Pune; Fed Cup WG Playoffs

So here we are, 1st GS of the season under our belt, with a fresh face for the ladies and an old one for the gents (as per usual). But there's no rest for the wicked as they say: the men go on three continents for three ATP 250s while the women do the same for the Fed Cup World Group playoffs.
Let's start with the men (Fed Cup has turned into another Pique Cup, because when the ITF shits on something it shits thoroughly!).

Cordoba Open

Sagrada Corazon de Jesus church

ATP 250, 1st of the five South American tournaments known as "The Golden Swing". Also 1st clay tournament of the season. Top 4 seeds have byes: Schwartzman, Pella, Garin, Djere. The other four do not have a bye: ARV, Cuevas, Verdasco, Londero. Fun fact: in the whole 28 men draw there are two Serbs, the rest are all Latin language speaking dudes.

DRAW

DOUBLES DRAW

OOP

Cristian Garin and a blue flame.

Open Sud de France, Montpellier

L'Arbre Blanc - yes, those are real balconies on a real building.

2nd ATP 250 of the week. Of course, indoor and HC, it's Europe in February! Same kind of draw, four seeds with byes, four without: Monfils, Goffin, The Shap, Dimitrov, FAA, PCB, Krajinovic, Humbert. Fun fact: 24 players are European. And then there are 3 Canucks and a Kazakh.

DRAW

DOUBLES DRAW

OOP

Gael Monfils - "Hey guys, I just found the Sun. I'm gonna put it back now."

Tata Open Maharashtra, Pune

Aga Khan Palace

You know the drill, ATP 250. HC but outdoor. The seeds are: Paire, Berankis, Travaglia, Kwon, Sugita, Duckworth, Caruso and Gerasimov. This is by far the weakest thing this week, so yeah, 20 other guys complete the draw.

DRAW

DOUBLES DRAW

OOP

Jiri Vesely - "Got my Tata cup! Yeah baby!"

And now the women.

Fed Cup World Group Playoffs

There are 8 ties, deciding who will join Australia, France, Hungary and Czechia in the Fed Cup Finals which will be held in Budapest in April. The 8 losers will go in the lower category and will play the new fangled qualies next year with others from other groups and blah and blah and blah. Here we go:

USA[1] v Latvia

They got mountains!

Everett, WA, HC indoor.

USA: Serena, Kenin, Riske, Gauff, BMS; captain Rinaldi.

Latvia: Sevastova, Ostapenko, Marcinkevica, Vismane; captain Zguns.

Netherlands v Belarus[2]

The Convention Bureau. Yeah, they got water!

The Hague, clay (whaaat?), indoor.

Netherlands: Bertens, Rus, Kerkhove, De Vroome, Schuurs; captain Haarhuis.

Belarus: Sabalenka, Azarenka, Sasnovich, Govortsova, Marozava; captain Poutchek.

Romania[3] v Russia

They got hills, I guess...

Cluj, HC indoor.

Romania: Bogdan, Bara, Ruse, Cristian, Olaru; captain Segarceanu.

Russia: Alexandrova, Pavlyuchenkova, Kudermetova, Kuznetsova, Kalinskaya, Blinkova: captain Andreev.

Brazil v Germany[4]

They got beaches!

Florianopolis, clay, outdoor.

Brazil: Ce, Pereira, Alves, Pigossi, Stefani; captain Burzagli.

Germany: Siegemund, Maria, Friedsam, Lottner; captain Schuettler.

Spain[5] v Japan

They got a Roman amphitheater!

Cartagena, clay, outdoor (Whaaat? Well, I guess Southern Spain in February is peachy?).
Spain: CSN, SST, ABZ, Arruabarrena, GGP; captain Medina Garrigues.
Japan: Osaka, Doi, Nara, Shibahara, Aoyama; captain Tsuchihashi.

Switzerland[6] v Canada

They got a lake!

Biel, HC, indoor.
Switzerland: Bencic, Teichmann, Golubic, Voegele, Bacsinszki; captain Guenthardt.
Canada: Andreescu, Fernandez, Bouchard, Dabrowski; captain El Tabakh.

Belgium[7] v Kazakhstan

They got twin towers!

Kortrijk, HC, indoor.
Belgium: Mertens, Flipkens, Bonaventure, Minnen; captain Van Herck.
Kazakhstan: Putintseva, Diyas, Danilina, Shvedova; captain Doskarayev.

Slovakia v Great Britain[8]

They got a castle. And The Danube!

Bratislava, clay (hmm... OK, then), indoor.
Slovakia: Kuzmova, Cepelova, Sramkova, Ribarikova, Schmiedlova; captain Liptak.
Great Britain: Watson, Dart, Bains, Swan, Raducanu; captain Keothavong.

For more info go here. Phew! Done.