Berlin, Germany) – Luísa Stefani’s grass season starts this week in Berlin, and with a new partner. Stefani will compete in the WTA 500 in the German capital alongside Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia. They make their debut against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova and Chinese Zhaoxuan Yang.

Stefani is the current number 2 in Brazil and 20th worldwide in the doubles specialist rankings. Garcia is ranked fourth in the singles standings and a two-time Roland Garros champion in doubles alongside Kristina Mladenovic. The 30-year-old Frenchwoman is making her first doubles tournament since the US Open.

Paulista, 25, Stefani had been playing since March alongside Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, who is not in the squad in Berlin. The partnership with Garcia is also set to be repeated at Wimbledon and the Brazilian is also set to play at Eastbourne as they prepare for the third Grand Slam of the season.

Earlier this year, Stefani won the WTA 500 in Adelaide, with North American Taylor Townsend, and in Abu Dhabi, alongside China’s Shuai Zhang. She was also the Australian Open mixed doubles champion, partnering Brazilian Rafael Matos.

If successful in their first round in Berlin, Stefani and Garcia could face Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, seeded 3rd and WTA 250 champions from ‘s-Hertogenbosch last Saturday. The Japanese duo will make their debut against Russian Yana Sizikova and Belgian Kimberley Zimmermann.

The main seeds are Australian Ellen Perez and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez, who make their debuts against North American Asia Muhammad and Mexican Giuliana Olmos. They can face Stefani and Garcia in the semi-finals.