MADRID Spain – On a maquee day in Madrid, all eight of the top seeds will be in attendance to play their first round at the Mutua Madrid Open. Which matches are must-sees?

Sunday, First Round

[1] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #2) vs. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #38)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads 7-3
Key Stat: Two of their last three encounters have gone three sets.

Giant-killer Dominika Cibulkova has been in search of a big win to reassert her standing among the best players in the world after an Achilles injury took her off the tour last spring. Narrowly missing out on upset opportunities over Agnieszka Radwanska in Indian Wells (where she held a match point) and Garbiñe Muguruza in Madrid, she gets another crack at Radwanska on the World No.2’s least favorite surface. The Pole won their only clay court meeting, but that was back in 2006, when the two were fighting for a main draw spot in Budapest qualifying.

Showing some encouraging signs of consistency, Cibulkova battled her way to her first title of the season at the Katowice Open – Radwanska’s home tournament, from which she withdrew citing a right shoulder injury. As for Radwanska, the former Wimbledon finalist grew up on red clay, and acquitted herself well at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix before falling victim to Laura Siegemund’s miracle run in the semifinals.

Pick: Cibulkova in three

[WC] Lara Arruabarrena (ESP #76) vs. [5] Petra Kvitova (CZE #6)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Madrid is Kvitova’s most successful clay court tournament, winning it twice (2011, 2015)

Defending champion Petra Kvitova surprised many when she opted out of her country’s Fed Cup semifinal against Switzerland because it would interrupt her preparation for the clay court swing, but the two-time Wimbledon champion silenced doubters when she showed some of those much-needed improvements in Stuttgart, where she reached the finals and pushed eventual champion Angelique Kerber to three tough sets.

Her next big test comes in the form of dirtballer Lara Arruabarrena; the hometown favorite turned heads in a three-set thriller she played against Kerber in Charleston, and with her maddening consistency, is precisely the type of player to bother Kvitova on clay. The former World No.2 is hardly impervious, having narrowly avoided an early round loss to Monica Niculescu during her otherwise solid run in Stuttgart, but how much better will the Czech powerhouse look with two more weeks under the tutilege of new coach Frantisek Cermak?

Pick: Kvitova in three