WTA Charleston: Preview & Predictions

WTA Charleston: Time for Clay!

The players now leave the hard courts behind them and move onto the slow stuff, as their preparations for the French Open, held at the end of May gets underway. The 2015 Family Circle Cup, held in Charleston, South Carolina is the first Premier level stop on this clay court tour!

The event is the oldest women’s only tournament, having been founded in 1973 and has the further unique distinction of being the ONLY tournament to be held on the American green/grey clay, which bounces slightly lower and quicker than the red variety elsewhere! In this tournament, it will be interesting to see who will find their feet quickest on the slow, slippery surface. Due to the tough transition, I expect surprises! Here are my predictions as to who I think will reach the quarters!

(Seed)

1st Quarter: Sloane Stephens vs (10) Varvara Lepchenko

The top seed, Eugenie Bouchard has struggled lately and though she reached the semis here last year, I don’t think she’ll be as confident as Sloane Stephens, who is coming in off of a great month in Indian Wells and Miami. In the 1st round though, Sloane will have to avenge a 62 60 defeat to Bethanie Mattek Sands on this very court back in 2013. (7) Madison Keys is seeded to reach the quarter finals, but I expect the heavy hitting lefty, Lepchenko to come through on this surface.!

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2nd Quarter: (4) Sara Errani vs (8) Caroline Garcia

Errani loves clay, winning in Rio earlier this year! Her heavy ground strokes and natural movement on the court means that she always comes to life during this time of year, at best reaching the French Open final back in 2012. Caroline Garcia is no slouch on the surface either, winning Bogota last year and comes in here off the back of a very enterprising group of results in Mexico and Indian Wells. The most dangerous outsider in this section is (14) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who can just about beat anyone on her day!

3rd Quarter: (6) Jelena Jankovic vs (3) Andrea Petkovic

Jankovic, a former champion in 2007, loves this event and almost always does well here. She moves and defends even better on clay courts than elsewhere, making her even tougher to beat. On top of this, she’s back in form having recently made the Indian Wells final. Her biggest threat lies in the teenager (12) Belinda Bencic, whom she could meet in the 3rd round. Having had a break through semi final run here last year, Bencic will feel positive returning, especially when considering she’s in great form, having reached the last 16 of both Indian Wells and Miami. Petkovic is the defending champion who loves being in Charleston, considering her father studied at university there! Though she might have just lost her place in the top 10, her semi final run in Miami hints that her close affinity with the historic city of Charleston should continue this week.

4th Quarter: (9) Sam Stosur vs (2) Ekaterina Makarova

Stosur is another player who loves clay, having reached the French Open final back in 2010. Her kick serve and heavy forehand took her to the title here back in 2010 too and I expect her to get the better of (5) Angelique Kerber on this surface, should the two meet in the 3rd round. In contrast, Makarova isn’t at her best on clay but she should be too solid for any of her opponents ahead of the quarter finals, even though I’d keep a close eye on unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova, a former 2 time French Open quarter finalist!

Next: WTA Miami: Final Prediction- Williams vs Suarez Navarro

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