Hello, @SOTBPedro!
After a grueling 11 hour family car ride down 95, I am happy to be here. This officially marks my daughter’s longest car trip and she was great. She’s looking forward to three days of kid’s activities at the Cup, including the kid-interactive, chip-pluckin’ main draw ceremony tomorrow and an Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday.
I got a great deal on Hotwire for what turns out to be an outdated but value-rich 3.5 star hotel. The interesting thing is that it is just down the street from a motel where I booked a room last year and then chickened out and canceled after I read reviews like “You. Will. Die. Here.” Of course, I paraphrase. Coming from Baltimore, it takes a lot to get me nervous about a place where I’m only crashing for a few nights. In the end, the unanimity of conviction from Tripadvisor contributors got the best of me on that one. The worst part is, the motel didn’t look that bad when I drove by it at sundown tonight. Anyway, if you need a place to get away from it all for $30/night in North Ctown, email me for the opposite of a recommendation.
Here’s the tennis excitement.
—I’ve got an official Eintracht USA life membership card to give to Andrea Petkovic, as she is a huge fan of that German city’s football team.
–Too bad that Sara Errani is out with injury. The only time I met her, she refused to give credit to anything except her racquet. I really wanted to see if she would finally take a little credit for her consistency. Next time, Sara.
—There is a huge American roster tomorrow on display at the Qualifying, to wit:
FAMILY CIRCLE CUP – CHARLESTON, SC, USA
$ 795,707.00
MARCH 30 – APRIL 07, 2013
Q. Women’s Singles
First Round
[1] K Pliskova (CZE) vs. A Riske (USA)
A Rodionova (RUS) vs. [9] V King (USA)
[2] M Burdette (USA) vs. V Solovyeva (RUS)
[WC] L Chirico (USA) vs. [15] Y Beygelzimer (UKR)
[3] K Pliskova (CZE) vs. C Scholl (USA)
[WC] S Marand (USA) vs. [11] C Garcia (FRA)
[4] S Karatantcheva (KAZ) vs. C Castano (COL)
S Rogers (USA) vs. [16] G Min (USA)
[5] T Pereira (BRA) vs. J Elie (USA)
[WC] V Duval (USA) vs. [10] P Ormaechea (ARG)
[6] E Bouchard (CAN) vs. K Marosi (HUN)
P Goncalves (BRA) vs. [14] I Falconi (USA)
[7] S Zhang (CHN) vs. P Rampre (SLO)
A Barty (AUS) vs. [12] N Burnett (ITA)
[8] M Larcher de Brito (POR) vs. [WC] H Carter (USA)
J Craybas (USA) vs. [13] J Pegula (USA)
ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2013
ALTHEA GIBSON start 10:00 am
Qualifying – J Craybas (USA) vs J Pegula (USA)
Qualifying – [WC] V Duval (USA) vs P Ormaechea (ARG)
Qualifying – S Rogers (USA) vs G Min (USA)
Qualifying – K Pliskova (CZE) vs A Riske (USA)
COURT 3 start 10:00 am
Qualifying – M Burdette (USA) vs V Solovyeva (RUS)
Qualifying – S Karatantcheva (KAZ) vs C Castano (COL)
Qualifying – T Pereira (BRA) vs J Elie (USA)
Qualifying – P Goncalves (BRA) vs I Falconi (USA)
COURT 4 start 10:00 am
Qualifying – M Larcher de Brito (POR) vs [WC] H Carter (USA)
Qualifying – A Barty (AUS) vs N Burnett (ITA)
Qualifying – E Bouchard (CAN) vs K Marosi (HUN)
Qualifying – A Rodionova (RUS) vs V King (USA)
COURT 5 start 10:00 am
Qualifying – [WC] L Chirico (USA) vs Y Beygelzimer (UKR)
Qualifying – S Zhang (CHN) vs P Rampre (SLO)
Qualifying – [WC] S Marand (USA) vs C Garcia (FRA)
Qualifying – K Pliskova (CZE) vs C Scholl (USA)
