Family Circle Cup Main Draw Preview
April 14, 2008
The Family Circle Cup has never had any problems drawing stellar fields, and this year will be no different. Five of the world's Top 10 - including two who have gone all the way to No.1 - highlight an absolutely packed roster at the Tier I event, as the American clay court season continues in Charleston.
Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, who have spent a total of 71 weeks at No.1 before (Sharapova 14, Williams 57), are two of the most talked-about names on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, and are both in this year's line-up. They have both won two titles already this year - Sharapova at the Australian Open and Doha, Serena at Bangalore and Miami. They are also multiple Grand Slam champions, with Sharapova winning three and Williams winning eight (the leader among active players). Neither player has won the Family Circle Cup before but Williams has come close, reaching the final in 2003 before falling to Justine Henin.
Rounding out the Top 10 contingent are Jelena Jankovic, Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva, ranked No.3, No.7 and No.8, respectively. Jankovic claimed this title last year, beating Venus Williams in a thrilling semifinal battle before downing Dinara Safina in the final. Dementieva has played here several times before, her best result being a runner-up finish in her last try three years ago in 2005 (falling to Henin in the final). Chakvetadze, one of the Top 10's newest additions who spent a short time in the Top 5 during the second half of 2007, is making her career debut here this year.
A plethora of players ranked between No.11 and No.20 will also be in the mix, including the aforementioned Safina and crowd favorite Patty Schnyder, whose crafty clay court prowess has taken her to two finals here, in 2002 and 2006 (finishing runner-up both times). Others in that ranking group coming to the tournament this year are last year's Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, teen sensations Agnes Szavay and Agnieszka Radwanska, and one of the most in-form players so far this year, Vera Zvonareva, who has been hurtling back towards the Top 10 with some incredibly consistent results, making the quarterfinals or better at six of her seven tournaments (including two finals).
Combine the Top 10 and Top 20 star power with fast-rising young stars - like Victoria Azarenka, Dominika Cibulkova and Alizé Cornet - and this will likely be one of the strongest fields in Family Circle Cup history.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Family Circle Cup, which started in Hilton Head in 1973 and switched locations to Charleston in 2001. Several of the greatest women's tennis players of all time have won here, including eight more former No.1s: Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Henin. Evert holds the record for most singles titles, winning eight (Navratilova and Graf weren't too far behind with four each).