Family Circle Cup main draw announced

DANIEL ISLAND, SC – The preliminary main player draw for the Family Circle Cup is officially complete for the 43rd tournament, April 4 – 12. The world-class player field forming for the Family Circle Cup on Daniel Island is headed up by eight of the top 20 players in the world. Five additional players will join the field via wild card entry, to be announced at a later date.

The Family Circle Cup’s 56-player draw is made up of 43 direct entries into the tournament, five wild cards and eight qualifiers.

“The depth in our player field is what we strive for each year,” said Eleanor Adams, Tournament Manager for the Family Circle Cup.  “From top-ranked players like Ekaterina Makarova and our champion Andrea Petkovic, to the next generation of talent, we are certain the diversity of players within the field this year will bring fierce and entertaining competition on the courts.”

Highlights from the Main Draw include:

• 20 countries represented in the international player field
• Eight players in the top 20 in the world: Ekaterina Makarova, Andrea Petkovic, Lucie Safarova, Sara Errani, Anqelique Kerber, Madison Keys,Shuai Peng, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova
• Four past Family Circle Cup Champions: Andrea Petkovic (2014), Samantha Stosur (2011), Sabine Lisicki (2009) and Jelena Jankovic (2007)
• Nine Americans in the field
• Local Charleston player Shelby Rogers qualifies for the 2015 Family Circle Cup main draw
• Madison Keys, top ranked American player in the field, currently World No. 18 after reaching the Australian Open semifinals

At the top of the Family Circle Cup player field is Ekaterina Makarova. 2015 will mark her first time playing Charleston in five years. She broke into the WTA singles top 10 for the first time in her career in January 2015, stemming from a standout 2014 season that included a singles quarterfinals appearance at Wimbledon, and her first Grand Slam singles semifinal at the US Open.

Current Family Circle Cup champion Andrea Petkvoic had a major comeback during the 2013-2014 season. After her Family Circle Cup win, Petkovic reached her first career Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open. She went on to reach the semifinals in Stanford, before taking home an additional WTA title at Bad Gadstein. Petkovic started the 2015 season with a win in Antwerp in February 2015.

Safarova will play Charleston for her fifth time in 2015. After making the finals in both singles and doubles in 2012, losing to Serena in singles before taking the doubles win, she has gone on to make the Family Circle Cup’s quarterfinals the last two years. Safarova reached an additional four quarterfinals following the 2014 Family Circle Cup, as well as the semifinals at Wimbledon and Moscow. Most recently, she won the title in Doha in February 2015.

Rounding out the top-four in Charleston’s player field is Sara Errani. This year’s tournament will be her third time playing the Family Circle Cup. Errani reached the quarterfinals at two Grand Slams in 2014, the French and US Open, as well as the finals in Rome and Paris. Errani won her first title of 2015 in Rio de Janeiro.

Main Draw to Date (ordered by ranking as of 3/11):

Ekaterina Makarova, Russia

Andrea Petkovic, Germany

Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic

Sara Errani, Italy

Anqelique Kerber, Germany

Madison Keys, USA

Shuai Peng, China

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic

Jelena Jankovic, Serbia

Samantha Stosur, Australia
Caroline Garcia, France

Sabine Lisicki, Germany
Zarina Diyas, Kazakhstan
Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania
Casey Dellacqua, Australia
Belinda Bencic, Switzerland

Anastasia Pavyluchenkova, Russia
Mona Barthel, Germany
Sloane Stephens, USA
Heather Watson, United Kingdom
Alison Riske, USA
Madison Brengle, USA

Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia
Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia
Lauren Davis, USA
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia
Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan
Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Spain
Elena Vesnina, Russia
Jana Cepelova, Slovakia
Christina McHale, USA

Alexanda Dulgheru, Romania
Saisai Zheng, China
Shuai Zhang, China
Marina Erakovic, New Zealand
Shelby Rogers, USA
Donna Vekic, Croatia

Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine

Timea Babos, Hungary
Nicole Gibbs, USA
Lara Arruabarrena, Spain
Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa
Taylor Townsend, USA

The Family Circle Cup takes place April 4 – 12th, 2015 on beautiful Daniel Island. Tickets for the event can be purchased via the Family Circle Cup website. For more information on the event, visit: http://www.familycirclecup.com.

About the Family Circle Cup

The Family Circle Cup is the largest women’s only tennis tournament in the world, and Family Circle is the longest running title sponsor of a sporting event in the United States, as well as in all of professional tennis, worldwide. With more than 21 million readers, Family Circle is one of the most widely read monthly magazines in America and is one of 14 leading subscription magazines owned by Meredith Corporation, which speaks to 80 million women nationwide.  The Family Circle Cup receives four days of live broadcast domestically on ESPN2, and is viewed internationally in more than 143 countries, featuring more than 200 hours of live and delayed global broadcast time, reaching 10+ million viewers worldwide.