Main draw play starts Monday in Charleston

First round play begins in Charleston tomorrow. Two Monday matches that look especially interesting to me are Heather Watson vs. Christina McHale, and Elena Vesnina vs. Rebecca Marino. In the past, Vesnina has done well in this tournament, though she has also been bothered by problems with her thigh.

Charleston favorite Patty Schnyder will play tomorrow, as will Peng Shuai, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Zheng Jie, and Sania Mirza. Possible second round matches to watch include Maria Kirilenko vs. Jelena Dokic, and Sabine Lisicki vs. Marion Bartoli. 

Defending champion and 2nd seed Sam Stosur has a bye in the first round. Waiting for her in her quarter of the draw is 5th seed Shahar Peer. Also lurking in that quarter are Rebecca Marino and Julia Goerges. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki has 6th seed Yanina Wickmayer in her quarter, and she also has Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Maria Kirilenko and Jelena Dokic. Peng Shuai could get in the way of a Nadia Petrova--Marion Bartoli showdown, though clay is hardly Peng's favorite surface.

We've had some bad luck since we've been here. The network adapter on our speedy notebook computer burned out. I generally employ that computer (it has the best keyboard I've ever used)  in the hotel and a netbook at the tournament, so for now--and most likely, for the rest of the tournament--I'm using a notebook/flash drive/netbook scheme that is somewhat awkward and a little silly, but it works. 

That's not all: We had to pack everything we had carefully put away in our hotel room because we were in such an isolated part of the building that we couldn't get a wireless connection and were therefore forced to move. We packed in a haphazard way before we went to Daniel Island this morning, and we moved when we got back from the tournament. The original room was given to us because it was quiet, but we've opted for a little noise and some wireless.

I always think of qualifying weekend as a really relaxing time, but this weekend has been far too stressful, what with computer problems and hotel problems. Blogging comes with its own set of issues, I suppose. However, if you have to have problems, you could do worse than having them in the Charleston area--palmetto trees, views of the harbor, good restaurants, and a really beautiful tournament site with a great staff--not much to complain about.