Diamonds may be a woman’s best friend, but a shiny new Porsche can’t lag far behind.  At least, that is the message regularly sent by the outstanding field at the WTA event in Stuttgart, which boasts seven of the top 10 women this year.  The virtually unique surface in Stuttgart (indoor red clay) does not resemble Roland Garros or other key clay tournaments, so its value as preparation is limited.  On the other hand, it may offer a useful transition from the hard courts that it resembles in some ways. 

Top half:  At her least comfortable on clay, Agnieszka Radwanska enters the European season still searching for her first title of 2014.  Most of the Pole’s losses this year have come against lesser opponents from Alize Cornet and Flavia Pennetta to Bethanie Mattek-Sands.  Her draw looks like a mixed blessing, pitting her against woefully slumping Roberta Vinci in her opener but aligning her opposite Maria Sharapova in a quarterfinal.  The two-time defending champion in Stuttgart has not yet found her best tennis this year, but clay witnessed Sharapova’s peak results in 2012-13.  She relishes the controlled conditions in Stuttgart and has dominated Radwanska for most of their history.  Sharapova cannot overlook a tricky opener against Lucie Safarova, who extended her to three sets in Miami, or a rematch of an indoor loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in February. 

A somewhat softer section would produce the semifinalist tasked with toppling Radwanska or Sharapova.  While Sara Errani defines the modern WTA clay specialist, nothing about recent losses to foes like Belinda Bencic or Sorana Cirstea suggests a breakthrough tournament.  Errani will find the Stuttgart surface challenging for the same reasons that Sharapova has embraced it, since she lacks the first strikes that it rewards.  Former Stuttgart finalist Caroline Wozniacki might square off with the Italian in a counterpunching battle of death by paper cut.  Home hope Angelique Kerber may arrive weary from flying halfway around the world after a Fed Cup semifinal in Australia.  Opportunity could knock for clay specialist Carla Suarez Navarro in this section, which could descend into chaos quickly.

Bottom half:  Less than a year ago, Simona Halep ranked outside the top 50.  She has embedded herself in the top five after winning seven titles, including a Premier Five crown, but her initial breakthrough came on clay.  Many of the women near her have produced notable results on clay, including 2009 Roland Garros champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.  Former Stuttgart champion Julia Goerges has established her skills on this distinctive surface in both the Porsche event and Stuttgart Fed Cup ties.  Not usually a threat on clay, hard-serving compatriot Sabine Lisicki might welcome the controlled indoor conditions.  Lisicki will open against the more conventional clay skills of Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova, who has reached a semifinal at Roland Garros before.  But Cibulkova will have traveled from a hard-court tournament in Malaysia and may struggle to change surfaces so quickly.  

Always emotion-packed and engaging are the all-Serbian slugfests between Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic.  A champion at Roland Garros in 2008, Ivanovic generally has held the edge over her counterpunching compatriot.  She has won two titles already this year while defeating three top-10 opponents, but Jankovic claims the higher ranking of No. 8.  Contrary to most clay courts, Stuttgart favors offense over defense, so a mini-upset looks plausible.  This section also features a first-round clash between two women who recently won the most significant titles of their careers.  A few weeks after Flavia Pennetta claimed Indian Wells, Andrea Petkovic swept through the Premier field in Charleston.  Many minefields thus await the fragile third seed, Petra Kvitova, who (like Kerber) must shift swiftly from hard courts to clay after participating in Fed Cup this weekend.