Family Circle Cup Draw Party in Charleston

Attending a Grand Slam tournament is great, but heading to one of the smaller events held in the U.S. or in any part of the world has a different feeling, and there's something to be said for  getting close to the action.

This weekend for example, I'm attending the Family Circle Cup WTA event in Charleston.  Even though is the qualifying weekend, many of the main draw players are on the grounds and on the practice courts.  Access to the players is easy and there isn't much of a crowd.

This afternoon, my wife and I attended the event's draw party at a sports bar about 2 blocks from the tennis center.  The draw party was well attended and included a question and answer period with the two WTA players there to see the draw, Virginia Razzano and Michaella Krajicek.  The draw was started with placing the seeded players and they filling in the rest of the lines with the main draw participants, qualifier sports and wild cards.

I was even able to draw one of the players and it was Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Line 28 and my wife drew a qualifier to be placed on line 22.

It was fun and a good way to kick off the tournament week.  The only thing missing was a microphone since it was a little hard to hear the action in the back with all the commotion going on. 

Should be a good tournament.