Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Serena Williams upset in Charleston second round

Photo by Daniel Ward
Defending champion and top seed Serena Williams, who won the Family Circle Cup in both 2013 and 2012, lost her second round match tonight to Jana Cepelova. It was Williams' first match in Charleston; she had a bye in the first round. Constrained by a thigh problem, Williams also had to deal with a very focused and relaxed Cepelova, who defeated her 6-4, 6-4.

Williams had her thigh taped during the match, but it didn't seem to help. She later downplayed the issue and said that she was very tired and needed a vacation. Only a few days ago, she won the premier mandatory event in Miami, and then traveled straight to Charleston.

Cepelova, who is number 78 in the world, had never before beaten a top 15 player.

Photo by Daniel Ward
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6 comments:

  1. sunny nineApril 2, 2014 at 10:45 AM

    Given Serena has had back issues then she could have compensated for it and strained the leg. Also she had to push and raise her game against Sharapova and Li at Miami. But as Serena said all credit to Cepelova who stuck with it and did win. She was hitting some good strokes against Serena.
    Also Diane, Why is this not a regular Premier event (I think they call them Premier 700). I know it was downgraded but is it that Charleston won't put up the money or is that the WTA doesn't want another Premier on the calendar?

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  2. DianeApril 2, 2014 at 11:04 AM

    The Charleston purse was cut significantly several years ago; some of the prize money was later restored, however. These kinds of changes took place as the tour began to spread more internationally. But the FCC is listed as a Premier event.

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  3. sunny nineApril 2, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    Embarrassed! Yes I know it is an Premier! What I meant to say was whether they could make it another Premier 5 (ie 6) but continue to have players choose 4 to play. I believe that is the rule now ie that not all 5 are required.

    Hopefully I am thinking better.

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  4. sunny nineApril 2, 2014 at 11:13 AM

    Our postings crossed.

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  5. DianeApril 2, 2014 at 12:10 PM

    I don't think that's going to happen--instinct tells me it won't. It follows I.W. and Miami, and they have Monterrey going at the same time. Moving Charleston up a week seems to have hurt more than it helped, actually. The whole Monterrey conflict thing has some of us concerned.

    This is a really nice tournament that the players like a lot, and I wonder whether its time slot on the calendar should be moved again. It's tough, being between two mandatory events and European clay season.

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  6. sunny nineApril 3, 2014 at 1:31 AM

    I was thinking that there is some good in the way Charleston is now. Given that TennisTv shows many matches and given that not all of the "big stars" are there, I do get to see a lot of younger players or new faces or known faces trying to get back on track (ie Kirilenko and Hantuchova who did break her 5 match losing streak)etc.
    But. the timing of the tournament is a problem.

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