April 03, 2011
Everything seems to be falling Shelby Rogers' way these days, possibly even in the case of her Family Circle Cup singles draw and doubles partner. The Family Circle Cup wasn't so lucky Saturday.
The tournament took a major hit when Maria Sharapova rescinded her wild-card entry into the Family Circle Cup and will not appear in the $721,000 WTA Tour stop on Daniel Island.
The former world's No. 1 suffered a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Victoria Azarenka in Saturday's final of Miami's Sony Ericsson Open.
'Maria is a superstar talent, and her presence in our player field will be missed by the tournament and the fans alike,' Family Circle Cup general manager Bob Moran said.
We knew there was a chance she would withdraw depending on her performance in Miami when she accepted our wild card in January, and we congratulate Maria on her success at that event.'
'Despite the loss of one high profile competitor, our draw still boasts four of the top 10 players in the world as well as four Family Circle Cup champions and a host of other marquee players.'
Rogers, the Daniel Island 18-year-old who is playing in her first Family Circle Cup main draw, had the luck of a possible favorable first-round matchup opposite 36-year-old American Jill Craybas in the top half of the singles draw. The winner could face Rogers' doubles partner, Family Circle Cup favorite Patty Schnyder, in the second round.
Schnyder, twice a Family Circle finalist and now the 13th seed, is playing her 15th consecutive Family Circle Cup, and along with Craybas are the only players, who counting this year's event, have played in all 11 tournaments on Daniel Island.
Both Rogers and Schnyder participated in the open-to-the-public draw at the Daniel Island Grille on Saturday afternoon, which was supervised by WTA Tour official Pam Whytcross. Rogers and Schnyder have a doubles history in that they teamed up for an exhibition victory before a large crowd in Family Circle Stadium on Friday night of last year's tournament.
Of course, Rogers is pleased to be playing with the veteran Swiss lefty in the main event this time.
'We played well together last year,' Rogers said.
Craybas, 5-3, is 3-7 in 2011 while beating only one top-100 player. Once ranked as high as 39th in the world, Craybas is currently No. 112.
'I'm just excited to be playing,' Rogers said. 'I now know who I play. It'll be nice to know when I'm playing.
'But I feel good about playing Jill. I know her game. But I think any match at this level will be tough. I've got to make a game plan.'
Bryan Minton, Rogers' coach, said, 'I think it's a good draw. She has an opportunity ... she has a good chance.'
Last year's national junior champion and U.S. Open main draw participant, Rogers was given a wild card into the Family Circle main draw. Rogers comes into the tournament after losing earlier in the week to Madison Brengle in the first round of a $25,000 challenger in Pelham, Ala. Rogers won twice in Pelham qualifying to advance into that main draw.
Outside of Rogers' little section of the draw, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is the top seed, followed by defending champion Samantha Stosur of Australia. The draw's four top 10 players are Nos. 3 and 4 seeds Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Marion Bartoli of France along with Wozniacki and Stosur. The four former champions are Jankovic, No. 7 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia, Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Stosur.
The top eight seeds will receive first-round byes. Main draw competition will begin Monday.
Wozniacki's first stern test could come in the quarterfinals against No. 6 seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, while the big-serving Stosur is in the same quarter of the draw as No. 5 seed Shahar Peer of Israel.
Rogers is in the quarter of the draw with Jankovic and No. 8 seed Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
One of the most interesting quarterfinals could thrust the power of 2006 champion Petrova against the two-handed consistency of Bartoli. The powerful Lisicki, a wild card who is currently ranked No. 217 in the world, could be Bartoli's first foe.
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