Serbia Ladies Open 2021: Women's singles draw analysis, preview & prediction

Following a couple of WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, the 250 events return this weekend in Belgrade and Parma. These two tournaments will give players the opportunity to get a few more clay wins under their belt before heading to Roland Garros.

The newly-minted Serbia Ladies Open has attracted quite a few established names, with former French Open quarterfinalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova headlining the field. Yulia Putintseva, a two-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, is seeded second.

Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai and Madrid Open semifinalist Paula Badosa complete the top four seeds.

Main draw action at the 32-player field will kick off on 16 May, with the grand finale scheduled for 22 May. On that note, here's an in-depth look at how the draw might pan out:

Top half: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Paula Badosa & Leylah Fernandez packed in the same section

Seeded players: (1) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, (4) Paula Badosa, (6) Kristina Mladenovic, (7) Rebecca Peterson

Expected semifinal: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Paula Badosa

Dark horse: Leylah Fernandez

Fresh off a run to the semifinals of the Madrid Open, the resurgent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will hope to continue her momentum in Belgrade. The Russian withdrew from the Italian Open due to an abdominal injury, but that was more of a precautionary measure than anything serious.

After a week of rest, Pavlyuchenkova will be raring to go at the Serbia Ladies Open, where she is the top seed. She has a relatively easy opener against unheralded Serbian wildcard Lola Radivojevic, but needs to be wary of the fast-rising Leylah Fernandez in the next round.

Fernandez won the title at Monterrey this year and could give the veteran Russian a run for her money.

Things could get trickier for Pavlyuchenkova from the quarterfinals, with Kristina Mladenovic lurking in her section of the draw. Mladenovic might not be the most accomplished player in singles, but if she can find consistency on her groundstrokes, she could make life difficult for the Russian.

Pavlyuchenkova's sternest test is likely to come in the last four against Paula Badosa. Badosa has been one of the biggest stories of the clay season, reaching back-to-back semifinals at Charleston and Madrid.

The Spaniard she has more than proved her credentials, and is definitely one of the top contenders for the title at Belgrade. She opens her campaign against Andrea Petkovic, who is in her final year on the tour.

With not too many obstacles in the initial stages, Badosa is expected to sail into the last eight - where she could come up against seventh seed Rebecca Peterson. The two have never crossed paths before, but given the kind of spectacular form that Badosa is currently in, she can be expected to make it to the semifinals.

Semifinal prediction: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Paula Badosa

Bottom half: Yulia Putintseva, Nadia Podoroska & Danka Kovinic to fight for supremacy

Seeded players: (2) Yulia Putintseva, (3) Zhang Shuai, (5) Nadia Podoroska, (8) Danka Kovinic

Expected semifinal: Yulia Putintseva vs Zhang Shuai

Dark horse: Danka Kovinic

The gritty Yulia Putintseva leads the bottom half of the draw. Earlier this week in Rome, Putintseva gave another example of her never-say-die attitude as she went down fighting to Coco Gauff in the first round.

The Kazakh had reached the quarterfinals at Charleston before that, and she certainly has the tools to trouble any player on clay. If she can overcome the talented Kaja Juvan in her opener, she will have her sights set on making a deep run at Belgrade.

But one player she would have to keep an eye out for is fifth seed Nadia Podoroska. This clay season, Podoroska is more than living up to the potential she showed during her astonishing run to the Roland Garros semifinals last year.

The World No. 44 upset Serena Williams in Rome earlier this week en route to the Round of 16, where she bowed out to Petra Martic in three sets.

If Podoroska starts finding the range on her groundstrokes, she could put Putintseva in a spot of bother during their projected quarterfinal meeting.

Eighth seed Danka Kovinic is likely to come through the other quarter of this half. The Montenegrin is coming off a superb performance at Charleston, where she made the final of the WTA 500 event and the semifinals of the WTA 250 tournament in back-to-back weeks.

Even though Kovinic hasn't made a mark so far on European clay, the Serbia Ladies Open could present her with a chance to correct that record. The 26-year-old starts her title challenge against a qualifier and could meet third seed Zhang Shuai in the quarters.

Zhang has been struggling all year, so Kovinic could very well make it through to another semifinal on clay.

Semifinal prediction: Danka Kovinic vs Nadia Podoroska