Iga Swiatek has played exactly 100 matches on clay in her career -- and won 89 of them. The former World No. 1 leads all currently active players with five Grand Slam titles -- four have come at Roland Garros -- and the best clay winning percentage. 

The Pole's much-anticipated clay-court season begins next week in Stuttgart at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. It’s the surface that plays to her strengths and minimizes her weaknesses, if there are any. The elastic movement, the impeccable footwork, that ruthless top-spin forehand that bounces highest on this surface -- are all amplified and enhanced on the red dirt.

Stuttgart: Draws | Scores | Order of play | Tournament info

"It's still a challenge because it's not like I come to play [on clay] and everything is perfect suddenly," No. 2 seed Swiatek said at Stuttgart Media Day on Monday. "We play on a hard court most of the year, so coming to clay court I still need some time to adjust to.

"But for sure I feel like I'm in the right place. With a good amount of work and focus, quickly I'm going to be able to start playing my game."

WTA 500 Stuttgart precedes three more high-tier tournaments in European clay season: WTA 1000 Madrid, WTA 1000 Rome and the clay-court Grand Slam, Roland Garros. Swiatek has averaged two titles a year since she began playing them in 2020. For those of you scoring at home, that’s 10 out of 20 for Swiatek against the rest of the field.

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Breaking down the top seeds in Stuttgart

Here are the key quotes and notable numbers from the six Top 10 players in the Stuttgart main draw:

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka: She got to the finals last year in Madrid and Rome, losing to Swiatek both times. Is she going to win a clay title this year? “Hah! Nice question,” Sabalenka said earlier this month, after her latest title in Miami.

“I wish I could just say, `Yeah, yeah, I’m going to win. And that’s all going to happen.’ I don’t know, but I can definitely make sure I bring my best high spirit there.”

Key stats: Sabalenka, who loves playing on this surface, went 15-4 in this swing last year. She did reach three consecutive finals in Stuttgart between 2021 and 2023, but she is still seeking her first Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title.

No. 2 Iga Swiatek: She has carved out a formidable start to 2025. It began with four straight wins at the United Cup in Australia. Swiatek lost in the final between the United States and Poland, again to Gauff.

To summarize: She’s played in six events so far, reaching one final, three semifinals and two quarterfinals -- and is fourth in the Race to the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Key stats: Swiatek won Stuttgart in 2022 and 2023, beating -- who else -- Sabalenka in both finals. Swiatek won her first 10 Stuttgart matches before her perfect tournament record was snapped by Elena Rybakina in last year's semifinals.

"For sure I'm proud of my achievements here," Swiatek said on Monday. "It's good to come back and feel these nice memories, but it doesn't change what's going to happen in the future. So got to focus on that."

No. 3 Jessica Pegula: Coming off the first clay title of her career in Charleston, Pegula heads into this section of the season with some confidence.

A rib injury kept her from playing these tournaments last year, but she’s had some success, particularly in Madrid, where the altitude quickens the pace. Pegula was a finalist there in 2022 and made the quarters in 2023.

"This time last year, I missed this swing coming into the red clay," Pegula said on Monday in Stuttgart. "This year I feel so much more fresh, I feel so much more ready to play and to travel and stuff like that.

"I'm like, 'Oh, I feel good, I feel ready to go,' so I might as well take advantage of that. Luckily it's been paying off with lots of matches. I think that's just what happens when you're doing well, you're playing more. That's always a good problem to have."

Key stats: Pegula is this year's WTA match-win leader, with 25 victories so far in 2025, including two titles (Austin and Charleston). She is two wins ahead of second-placed Sabalenka (23).

No. 4 Coco Gauff: Her defensive skills give her a chance in every match she plays on clay. Like Sabalenka, she lost to Swiatek deep into two events last year, the semifinals in Rome and Paris.

Key stats: Gauff was 12-4 on clay last season. Her most clay-court wins in a single season was in 2021, when she went 16-4 on the surface. That was the year she made her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros. 

No. 5 Jasmine Paolini: After being stymied in the Round of 16 in the first three WTA 1000 events of this year, Paolini cracked the code in Miami, where she became the first Italian woman to make the semifinals in the tournament's history. Paolini will try to bring that form into her 2025 clay-court debut.

Key stats: Paolini went 12-5 on clay last year, and half of her wins came at Roland Garros, where she reached her first Grand Slam final. Three Italian women have reached Roland Garros finals in the last 15 years: Francesca Schiavone (2010 champion and 2011 runner-up), Sara Errani (2012 runner-up) and Paolini.

No. 6 Mirra Andreeva: This will be the first time she plays Stuttgart, but Madrid is where she burst into prominence, reaching the fourth round at the age of 15. More recently, she reached the 2024 semifinals at Roland Garros before losing to Paolini.

A tricky task awaits Andreeva in the first round, where she will face her older sister, Erika, who is one of three lucky losers in the draw (the other lucky losers are Errani and Ella Seidel). In their previous WTA match, Erika topped Mirra in straight sets at 2024 Wuhan.

"We're going to take it professionally because we don't have any other choice," Andreeva said in Stuttgart on Monday, before she even knew if Erika might get drawn against her. "We're just going to go on court and play as any other match. We're going to face each other, and if it happens, probably it's going to be a great and entertaining match."

Key stats: The 17-year-old has a strong .733 winning percentage on clay. She can improve that further if she carries in the momentum from her hard-court season, where she won back-to-back WTA 1000 titles at Dubai and Indian Wells, and became the youngest player to crack the Top 10 since 2007.

....And one more to watch

Laura Siegemund: Recently, Siegemund has been one of the world's best doubles players, peaking at No. 4 last year. But she also has been a Top 30 singles player -- and home-soil success in Stuttgart was a big part of that.

This has been the German's best singles tournament, winning the title in 2017 and reaching the final in 2016. Overall, she is 14-6 in main-draw matches at the event. Her best Grand Slam singles result also came on clay -- the 2020 Roland Garros quarterfinals.

Siegemund faces her fellow wild card Jule Niemeier in Tuesday's first round. All five Germans in the field have been drawn into the same quarter.