Getting ready for IW

WTA Lyon, Monterrey; Davis Cup qualifiers

Indian Wells is just a week away so not much going on this week. Two WTA Internationals and a bunch of Davis Cup qualifier/play-off ties.
My interest in Davis Cup is minimal, so that'll be a short and bare bones section. Let's start with the WTA.

Open 6ème Sens – Métropole de Lyon

Old Lyon - spectacular reflection, not a ripple on the Rhone that day! (if it's photoshopped, then booooo!)

WTA International (280 points), HC. It's a brand new tournament, so we'll see what happens (outdoor could be very tricky this time of year). It's a 32 players draw so no byes. Kenin (#5) is head and shoulders above the rest of the field and if she doesn't win this it would be a shocker. The other seven seeds are from #39 to #85: Mladenovic, Garcia, Cornet, AVU, Teichmann, Kasatkina, Kuzmova. Other names: Babos, Giorgi, Bogdan, Dodin.

DRAW

DOUBLES DRAW

OOP

Sofia Kenin and four purple blobs.

Abierto GNP Seguros, Monterrey

That mountain peak line looks great

Another WTA International (280 points) also on HC and outdoor. But this is in Mexico, so I expect fairer weather. Same deal as in Lyon: 32 players, no byes for the seeds. It is a way better draw than in France, must be that people are gravitating towards IW. Here are the seeds: Svitolina, Konta, Linette, Stephens, Peterson, Azarenka, Wang (Y) and Bouzkova (she got promoted as seed after Putintseva withdrew), Davis (Linette is injured and withdrew). So who else is there? LAF (who got a SE in the MD), Venus, Diyas, Potapova, Watson and Clijsters.

DRAW

DOUBLES DRAW

OOP

Elina Svitolina and her very cool trophy.

So now the guys.

Davis Cup Qualifiers

Twelve ties between these nations:

Croatia - India
Hungary - Belgium
Colombia - Argentina
USA - Uzbekistan
Australia - Brazil
Italy - Korea
Germany - Belarus
Kazakhstan - Netherlands
Slovakia - Czechia
Austria - Uruguay
Japan - Ecuador
Sweden - Chile

Locations of the ties are in that map up there. So I have no clue how these work or who goes where if they win or if they lose. For more info on teams and rules go HERE