After becoming the first Australian in the Open era to make a third Monte Carlo quarterfinal last week, Alex de Minaur is aiming to build on his claycourt form in Barcelona this week.
Seeded third, De Minaur faces Austrian qualifier and world No.82 Sebastian Ofner in the first round of the ATP 500 event.
The pair have only met once on the tour, with the Australian emerging a straight-sets victor in Acapulco in 2024.
Should he triumph again, ‘Demon’ will play either qualifier Hamad Medjedovic, whom he defeated in the second round of the Australian Open, or lucky loser Marco Trungelliti.
The Aussie No.1 is defending points in the Spanish city after making the last eight in 2025, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
But he will arrive with growing confidence in his claycourt game thanks to the Monte Carlo run, where he bested Cameron Norrie and Alexander Blockx before falling to ascendent local hero Valentin Vacherot.
Meanwhile, Daria Kasatkina has returned from a hip injury which has kept the Australian out of action since February.
The world No.72 faces fifth-seeded American Ann Li at the Rouen Open, a WTA 250 event in northern France.
A win would earn Kasatkina a second-round matchup against either Kamilla Rakhimova or Elvina Kalieva.
The 28-year-old was building serious momentum in the early stages of the season. She beat 16th-seeded Elise Mertens in Doha’s second round before taking a set off then-world No.2 Iga Swiatek in the round of 16, and went on to score a first-round win in Dubai prior to the injury.
On the doubles court, world No.20 Ellen Perez will again partner Demi Schuurs at the WTA 500 Stuttgart Open.
The duo have developed a formidable partnership this year, having made the semifinals in Adelaide and the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi and Indian Wells, and will face Fang Hsien Wu and Eri Hozumi in round one.
Elsewhere, five Aussie men are taking the court at the Busan Open Challenger in South Korea.
James Duckworth is the event’s top seed and arrives in a rich vein of form having made Challenger finals in Mexico City and San Luis in the past fortnight. The world No.86 faces August Holmgren.
Adam Walton is second seed and will battle Hsu Yu-hsiou in the opening round, while fifth-seeded Dane Sweeny plays Ilya Ivashka.
Alex Bolt and James McCabe go head-to-head in an all-Aussie matchup.
Another five Aussies are in the singles draw of the Wuning Open Challenger in China: Li Tu, Moerani Bouzige, Omar Jasika, Philip Sekulic and Blake Ellis.
In the doubles draw, Ethan Cook and Tai Sach are fourth seeds, while Joshua Charlton is also in action.
The Tallahassee Challenger also gets underway in Florida, with Patrick Harper and Alex Bulte featuring in doubles.
Rounding out this week’s Australian doubles contingent are Blake Bayldon and Tenika Mcgiffin, who are both playing doubles events in Oeiras, Portugal.