Charleston’s Family Circle Cup lost its top seeded player on Friday.
Outgoing world number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from the tournament because of a left leg injury first sustained at the Sony Ericsson Open.
“I am unable to compete this year at the Family Circle Cup as I need to give my leg injury time to heal,” commented Williams in the tournament’s announcement.
Although Serena will not compete, she plans to travel to South Carolina to appear in various off-court events at the Family Circle Cup.
“I will still be coming to Charleston next week to support the tournament, but hope to be back on its clay courts next year,” added Williams.
The Family Circle Cup is scheduled to begin later this week with a strong player field headlined by four Top 10 players including World No. 3 and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Elena Dementieva, World No. 5 and 2004 champion Venus Williams, World No. 6 and 2008 finalist Vera Zvonareva, and World No. 10 and 2006 champion Nadia Petrova.
Well I guess it was too much too expect both sisters to be in the starting line up for Charleston. With Barcelona on the go now it makes for a diluted field.
Still, an opportunity for Marion to come through the field if she can find her clay game early enough in the season. Not her strongest surface by any means.
True, Alice, it’s definitely not her best surface. But even though it is different than it’s European counterpart, Bartoli might be able get a good start to her clay season before heading onto the red dirt.
I’m sure you’ve watched Marion compete more on clay than I have over the years, so would you consider her a decent clay-courter? Or do you think she is better on the faster surfaces?
To be perfectly honest and at risk of showing my ignorance, I’m still not clear on what the key differences are between American clay and the red stuff.. I tried Googling last year and drew a blank… Hey that would make for an interesting article on OTB if you guys ever want to look into it.
Clearly Marion’s game is more suited to hard courts, where she can close points down, dictate play and get winners more easily. Clay is too slow, the rallies too long, the ball bounces too high – ingredients which are antithetical to the Bartoli game…. BUT…. and there’s always a but when it comes to Bartoli :) Marion and her coach are antithetical to everything and quite adaptable, so I would never discount Marion from causing some upsets even on clay.
Dementieva is in Charleston… Marion beat her to reach the 4th round of the French on 2007. The first time I ever seen her play funnily enough. So you never know. I got belief anyway.
I hope you guys have recovered from your trip to Indian Wells and Miami. Thanks very much for your coverage.
Thanks, Alice. We’ll definitely keep in mind a potential piece on the differences between the two different types of clay.
I agree that the faster surfaces are better for Marion’s game, so that may be why she’s had a tough time adjusting to the slower courts.
I don’t know about Paula, but I think I’m just about back to normal after the tournaments! The time between Indian Wells and Miami is so quick that I’ve developed a better appreciation for what the players do during back-to-back events. Thanks for all your support of OTB!
Yeh the appreciation and understanding of tour life is something I bin thinking about a lot lately. Anyways.. Happy Easter!
Cheers!
Happy Easter to you, too!!!