MATCH POINTS
Charleston champion and Madrid finalist Kiki Bertens has been enjoying career-best results over this year's clay swing - and Nurnberg is where it all started for her. The Dutch No.1's 2016 title run here as a qualifier began a 13-match winning streak that also included a Roland Garros semifinal showing, and kicked off her ascent towards the Top 20.
No.2 seed Julia Goerges takes on Kristyna Pliskova - to whom she lost in their only previous encounter, 7-6(4), 6-1 in the first round of the US Open in 2012.
Former World No.66 Mandy Minella has come through WTA qualifying for the first time since her return from maternity leave in February, scoring the best win of her comeback over No.1 seed and World No.102 Denisa Allertova en route. The 32-year-old, who has compiled a 14-8 record this year, faces Alison Riske in the first round - against whom she lost their only previous match, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the ITF $25,000 event in Rancho Mirage in 2010.
In 2016, Nadia Podoroska qualified for the US Open and cracked the Top 200 as a 19-year-old - but injuries kept the Argentinian on the sidelines for eight months between July last year and her return in March. In just the sixth event of her comeback, Podoroska has qualified for her first WTA main draw since Bucharest last year.
Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck square off in an all-Belgian derby today. The head-to-head is tied at one apiece, with Van Uytvanck taking their Katowice 2015 quarterfinal 6-2, 6-4 and Flipkens gaining revenge 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of Monterrey in 2016.
An all-German battle between Carina Witthoeft and Mona Barthel is another intriguing first-round pairing. Barthel has the head-to-head advantage, having won in Stüttgart qualifying in 2010 and the first round of Luxembourg in 2016 - but Witthoeft took their most recent clay encounter, in the first round of Stüttgart in 2015.
22-year-old Serb Dejana Radanovic makes her WTA main draw debut today against defending champion Kiki Bertens. The World No.293 has won five ITF titles in the past two years, including her second at $25,000 level in Toyota in March - and this will be the first time she has ever faced a Top 100 opponent.
ORDER OF PLAY
CENTRE (starts 11am)
Alison RISKE (USA) vs [Q] Mandy MINELLA (LUX)
Kristyna PLISKOVA (CZE) vs [2] Julia GOERGES (GER)
[3] Kiki BERTENS (NED) vs [Q] Dejana RADANOVIC (SRB)
Carina WITTHOEFT (GER) vs Mona BARTHEL (GER)
SHOW COURT (starts 11am)
[Q] Fanny STOLLAR (HUN) vs [4] ZHANG Shuai (CHN)
[5] Irina-Camelia BEGU (ROU) vs Johanna LARSSON (SWE)
[8] Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE) vs [Q] Anna ZAJA (GER)
Kirsten FLIPKENS (BEL) vs [7] Alison VAN UYTVANCK (BEL)
COURT 5 (starts 1pm)
[Q] Nadia PODOROSKA (ARG) vs [Q] Kristina KUCOVA (SVK)
Kaitlyn CHRISTIAN (USA) / Sabrina SANTAMARIA (USA) vs Darija JURAK (CRO) / Cornelia LISTER (SWE)
[WC] Katharina GERLACH (GER) / Lena RUEFFER (GER) vs Nicola GEUER (GER) / Eva WACANNO (NED)
