Champions and runners-up in Charleston--a look at the numbers

SerenaWilliams in 2008 (photo by Diane Elayne Dees)

The Volvo Car Open (formerly the Family Circle Cup) has been in Charleston since 2001. During that period, only two players--Serena Williams and Justine Henin--have repeated championship runs. Williams win the event in 2008, 2012 and 2013. In those finals, she defeated Vera Zvonareva, Lucie Safarova and Jelena Jankovic, respectively.

Williams was also a runner-up in 2003, when she lost to Justine Henin, who also won the event in 2005.

Both Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki have held both runner-up and champion status. Jankovic won the tournament in 2007. Wozniacki was the runner-up in 2009 (lost to Sabine Lisicki in the final), and was the champion in 2011.

In a category of her own is Martina Hingis, who was twice a runner-up in Charleston. However, Hingis won the event in 1999, when it was held at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Patty Schnyder (photo by Diane Elayne Dees)

Three players have reached the finals twice but have not won the title in Charleston: Patty Schnyder was a finalist in 2002 and 2006, and lost the final to Iva Majoli and Nadia Petrova, respectively. Vera Zvonareva lost the final to Serena Williams in 2008, and to Sam Stosur in 2010. Elena Vesnina lost the final to Wozniacki in 2011, and to Sloane Stephens in 2016.

Of special interest was Schnyder's 2002 run. Unseeded, the Swiss player--a rock star in Charleston--blazed through the tournament, using her considerable bag of tricks to take out the likes of 6th seed Amelie Mauresmo, 3rd seed Serena Williams, wild card Mary Pierce, and top seed and defending champion Jennifer Capriati. It was an amazing run, but the Swiss player was defeated 6-4, 7-5 in the final by the also-unseeded Iva Majoli.

In 2005, Schndyer, seeded 3rd, lost in the final, but in order to get there, she again took out the defending champion and top seed, Justine Henin, in the semifinals.