Meet the top five seeds
While 2016 Volvo Car Open champion Sloane Stephens will not be defending her title, due to injury, a field of top-ranked players will be vying for this year’s VCO title prize in the first clay tournament of the season. Three of the top five seeds in this year’s VCO have reached the quarterfinals in the Miami Open, currently underway.
The top seed in the 2017 tournament is American Madison Keys. Keys, an Illinois native who currently resides in Florida, is ranked No. 9 in the world. In recent play, Keys advanced to the round of 16 at Indian Wells where she was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki, who is the No. 5 seed in Charleston. Indian Wells was Keys’ first tournament of 2017, having missed the beginning of this year’s season due to wrist surgery. This week at the Miami Open, playing just her second tournament of the year, Keys was ousted by No. 72-ranked Lara Arruabarrena, 7-5, 7-5.
Keys’ career high rank was No. 7, which she achieved in October of 2016. In 2015, Keys was the runner-up in Charleston, losing to Angelique Kerber.
Second seed Johanna Konta of England is ranked No. 11. Konta had a strong start to this season, winning at the Sydney International and having a fine showing at the Australian Open, losing to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. The Australian born Brit was knocked out in the round of 32 at Indian Wells earlier this month and, as of our print deadline, was still alive at the Miami Open, having survived a second round scare to qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovic and then improving markedly with her third round victory over Pauline Parmentier. Konta defeated Arruaberena in the fourth round and secured a berth in the quarterfinals (she was set to play on Wednesday – after we went to print).
Third seed Venus Williams, a former champion here in Charleston and a former World No. 1, is currently ranked No. 12 in the world. Williams’ best finish this year was runner up in the Australian Open, losing in the finals to her sister Serena. Venus Williams lost a three-set match at Indian Wells in the quarterfinal, her second best finish of the year.
Williams is currently playing well at the Miami Open, breezing through her second and third round matches and then defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round to reach the quarterfinals. Venus is set to face World No. 1 Kerber on Wednesday.
Russian Elena Vesnina, ranked No. 13 in the world, is the fourth seed. Vesnina had a surprise victory at Indian Wells, winning the finals against Kuznetsova, but was dismissed in the second round of Miami this week by a qualifier. Prior to her win at Indian Wells, Vesnina was playing average tennis, competing in six tournaments and making it as far as the quarterfinals only once.
Former Charleston champion and former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has started the season strong. Having played six complete tournaments to date, the Dane has increased her world ranking to No. 14 (up from her No. 19 ranking at the end of 2016) and is the fifth seed in this year’s tournament. In those six tournaments, she has made the finals twice, and the quarterfinals three times.
As of our print deadline, Wozniacki was still going strong in Miami, cruising into the quarterfinals again having won her first three matches in straight sets and her fourth round match after her opponent was forced to withdraw. She was scheduled to play Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night after the paper went to print.
Other crowd favorites in this year’s player field include: former champions Sam Stosur, Jelena Jankovic, and Andrea Petkovic, reigning Olympic Champion Monica Puig and former Daniel Island resident Shelby Rogers.