(March 5, 2002)

Top Tennis Star Serena Williams

To Make Debut At 2002 Family Circle Cup

CHARLESTON, SC (March 5, 2002) Former U.S. Open Champion Serena Williams will make her Family Circle Cup debut this April.  Williams, currently ranked No. 6 in the world, is one of six Top 10 players slated to play in one of the premier events on the Sanex WTA Tour.  The Family Circle Cup, scheduled for April 13-21, will be played at the Family Circle Tennis Center on Daniel Island in Charleston, South Carolina.    Some of the biggest names in women's tennis including Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles, Jelena Dokic and Anna Kournikova will be battling it out for over $1.2 million dollars in prize money. 

Two days ago, Williams won her first tournament of the 2002 season in Scottsdale, Arizona.  It was a remarkable week for Williams who upset two Top 5 players (Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati) to win the title.  Earlier this year in Sydney, Australia she sprained her right ankle during a semifinal match against Meghann Shaughnessy and was forced to retire in the first set.  Scottsdale was her first appearance back on the Sanex WTA Tour since that injury.   

Last year she won three singles titles, all at major events including the Sanex Championships.  In September of last year, Williams reached her second U.S. Open final but this time her opponent was her older sister Venus.  That Grand Slam final was historical in many ways.  It marked the second time ever and the first time since 1884 that sisters met in a Grand Slam singles final.  At the end of the year she won the season-ending Sanex Championships in Munich, Germany becoming the first player to win that event in her debut.  With her latest victory in Scottsdale, she now has 12 career singles titles including a Grand Slam singles championship at the 1999 U.S. Open.  "Serena Williams is a remarkable tennis player and has accomplished so much

in her young career so far," stated Frankie Whelan, Executive Director of the Family Circle Cup.   "What is equally important, Serena serves as such a positive role model to young children who dream of success not only in sports but in their everyday lives.   Since this is her first trip to the Family Circle Cup, we look forward to showing off the Family Circle TennisCenter on Daniel Island and the warmth and charm of Charleston." 

   
The tournament, owned and operated by Family Circle magazine, will be held April 13-21 at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, South Carolina.  The Family Circle Cup, one of the longest running women's professional tennis events in the United States, is celebrating 30 years in women's professional tennis.  Ticket packages are now on sale and a variety of packages are available.  For more information on The Family Circle Cup and The Family Circle Tennis Center, please call (800) 677.2293 or (843)

856.7900.   To check out the latest news on the Family Circle Cup contact our tournament's official website at www.familycirclecup.com.

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