Scouting Report: Alcaraz, Zverev target home hat tricks in Barcelona & Munich

The clay-court swing continues this week, with ATP 500 action unfolding at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and BMW Open by Bitpanda in Munich.

Carlos Alcaraz leads the field in Barcelona, while Alexander Zverev headlines in Munich. Both are playing on home soil and bidding for a third title in their respective appearances.

Casper Ruud is the defending Barcelona champion. Home hope Jan-Lennard Struff won Munich last year, marking his maiden tour-level triumph. The BMW Open by Bitpanda is debuting as a newly upgraded ATP 500.

ATPTour.com breaks down five things to watch at each event.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BARCELONA
1) Alcaraz Returns To Home Soil: After missing last year’s edition due to a right arm injury, the Spaniard will be greeted with a hero’s welcome in his return to Barcelona. The 21-year-old has lifted the trophy in his past two appearances (2023, 2022), capturing 10 straight matches at his home ATP 500. Alcaraz won the clay-court major Roland Garros last year and returned to the same venue less than two months later to compete in the Paris Olympics, where he earned the silver medal.

2) Ruud Repeat Of Biggest Career Title?: Second seed Ruud has fond memories in Barcelona, where last year he stormed to the title without dropping a set. It marked the Norwegian’s first trophy at ATP 500 level or higher. The No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Live Rankings has claimed 12 tour-level titles, 11 of which have come on clay. He is aiming for his first trophy of the season.

3) Tsitsipas One Step Away: Stefanos Tsitsipas has come agonisingly close to glory in Barcelona, having reached the final four times, including the past two seasons. In 2021, the Greek held championship point before Rafael Nadal stormed back and claimed a record-extending 12th — and the Spaniard’s final — Barcelona crown. Tsitsipas claimed his first ATP 500 title this year in Dubai and will now look to add to that count.

4) Top 20 Players In Action: Alex de Minaur aims to build on his strong start to the clay-court season. The Australian was a semi-finalist in Barcelona in 2022. Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Arthur Fils and Frances Tiafoe are also in the star-studded field that features nine Top 20 players.

5) Heliovaara & Patten Headline Doubles: Two-time major titlists Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten lead the doubles draw. The Finnish-British duo could face last year’s Madrid champions Sebastian Korda and Jordan Thompson in the opening round. Second seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus, third seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool are also competing.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN MUNICH
1) Zverev Aims For Third Title: The German won his home tournament in 2017 and 2018, but has not been beyond the quarter-finals in his five outings since. With Munich being upgraded to an ATP 500, the top seed Zverev will have to fend off the stiff star power in the field. Making his 11th Munich appearance, Zverev arrives with a 14-7 season record, still seeking his best form since reaching the Australian Open final.

2) Second Seed Shelton: American Ben Shelton is making his Munich debut and is competing in just the second clay-court ATP 500 of his career. The second seed is 10-7 on the year, highlighted by a semi-final run at the Australian Open and a quarter-final appearance in Indian Wells. Shelton won his first clay-court trophy last year in Houston.

3) Miami Champ Mensik: #NextGenATP Jakub Mensik returns to action for the first time since his dream run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, where he downed Novak Djokovic in the final to lift his first tour-level trophy. Competing in just his fifth tour-level clay-court tournament, the 19-year-old leads the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The Czech teen is aiming for a return trip to the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

4) Other Stars To Watch: Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime seeks his third title of the season and first ever on clay. Fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo begins with a tough test in defending champion and home hope Struff. French lefty and Marseille champion Ugo Humbert is seeded fourth.

5) Home Hopes Krawietz & Puetz Top Seeds In Doubles: Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz — last year’s Nitto ATP Finals champions — headline the doubles field, which also features second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. Third seeds Christian Harrison and Evan King are seeking an ATP 500 hat-trick this season, having won in Dallas and Acapulco.