She would have to beat some very tough competition on her least favorite surface to do so, but if Serena Williams wins the Family Circle Cup, she would move to a career-high #3 in the world.

Actually, she just has to get to the semis and go one round further than Monica Seles.

Either way, there's a good chance that Martina Hingis will drop to SIXTH in the world, hovering a mere 25 points over #7 Lindsay Davenport. Hell, if Jelena Dokic has a great tournament and wins the thing, Hingis could drop to SEVENTH! Bizarre. And yet, she's got the most points on tour this year. Funny.

Anyway ... unfortunatetly, Henin dropped out of this tournament. That means one less potential winner, but it's still a good looking draw. My predictions:

I see the top half of the draw holding form with Capriati, Farina Elia, Serena, and Mauresmo making the quarters. Of those, Amelie has the toughest task with Hantuchova and Pierce in her draw, not to mention Ruano Pascual and Patty Schnyder. In the bottom half, I'm picking Suarez (over Shaughnessy and Coetzer), Dokic, Kremer (repeating her upset of Testud last week) and Seles. Seles's section features Alexandra Stevenson, Conchita Martinez, and Anna Kournikova, FYI.

I'm picking Jennifer over Farina Elia, Amelie over Serena (foolishly, I know ... Serena's obviously on a mission, surface be damned), Dokic over Suarez (assuming she's healthy), and Seles over Kremer (although Kremer is in rare form these days ... her wins over Dokic were clearly not flukes).

Capriati needs to make the finals to hold on to #1. For no other reason than that, I'm picking her over Mauresmo. Seles over Dokic in the other semi.

This sets up another match between Capriati and Seles. Yay!! I really hope Monica's feet are okay. If so, I say: MONICA WINS IN THREE SETS!

Speaking of which ...

What's up with Monica? Her foot was sore for just last week? I hope she's 100% - she'll get two weeks off after this one and Fed Cup before going to Europe to prep for the French. Her draw in the Family Circle is clearly a good one, Serena and JenCap will have to square off in their semi and Seles won't have it easy against a tough Dokic. Seles road to the final should give her some time to adjust to the clay and get her timing down. Although Dokic lost this past weekend, she played very well during a rain-plagued week and should be considered more dangerous than ever. Henin and Venus played great at times yesterday but Henin's disappointment must be awful....

Go Monica.

I think Serena is on a mission to be in the top 4 by the time the French Open starts. She knows that help her draw considerably, and based on that I think she will come out with a vengeance this week. She will get a couple matches to get her clay court feet under her before she beats Amelie in the qtrs. Her semi against JenCap will be something to watch. I think whoever wins that match will be Monica in the finals.

All in all, this is a great draw and would be a really cool tournament to see. Does this tourney have a good website to follow results?

For the Family Circle (the site seems slow):
http://www.familycirclecup.com/

For Montecarlo:
http://www.masters-series.com/montecarlo/

Yeah, the family circle site is very slow especially the draws...Why isn't Hingis playing?

This is such an interesting tourney. With points up for grabs and players looking for momentum toward the French open season, there should be some hard fought matches.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Capriati is gonna be upset. Husarova? She could be a giant killer. If not, I think Serena will blast through Jenny in the Semis.

I think Seles has a great draw to make the finals. She wants to go into the French with a nice high seed so she is going to be gunning for a good finish here. But she'll have to play tough cuz I think Stevenson or Kremer will have an impact on the bottom half.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think Dokic is overrated. Does anyone else want to see an MTV style Celebrity deathmatch between Dokic and Dementieva? But I digress.

To Anna: Please, please, please win your first round match against Conchita.

I can't wait to see how this week plays out. Monica and Serena have so much to gain here and there's room for some of the rising stars to get big wins.

The Family Circle Cup has a much better draw than the BLC, but then again, it usually does. Getting to the heart of the matter, though, in response to the question that frames this thread, YEH, I kinda think Serena can win this week. It won't be easy, though.

Say what you want about DOKIC, but I think she's the odds-on fave for a semifinal spot. I was a bit surprised when she withdrew from her semi with Henin, though. Stomach virus?! That makes no sense to me, but I won't rehash it all here b/c y'all prob. already talked about this.

SELES has a much more difficult draw to the semi's: Martinez or Stevenson in the third round, and Dementieva or Testud in the quarters. Still, very winnable for Monica, who would love a chance of revenge against Dokic.

The only potential spoilers to a CAPRIATI vs. S. WILLIAMS semi would seem to be Myskina (in Capriati's part of the draw) or Mauresmo, who could give Serena a tough fight.

I'd love another Capriati vs. S. Williams encounter, and think it's likely to happen. Thing is, with Jenny, she doesn't rebound as well as other players. JenCap actually tends to go on little losing streaks against players. Other elite players, like Martina Hingis and Venus Williams, rarely lose back to back matches against the some opponent.

Do my eyes deceive me or is Monica playing doubles with Coopersmith!?!

Yay! And it looks like they just won in two sets!

I hope Serena moves up to 3, that way the girls can get closer to their 1,2 goal and Richard can go on and on about how he told us so.

I was happy to see that Monica was playing doubles with the Croatian girl. That tells me she's not injured and wants to get in as much clay practice as possible. That's a good sign.

I think Myskina is the next Hantuchova...keep your eyes on this future giant killer...

Seles' draw doesn't worry me so much...Stevenson is capable on hard courts but not clay...Testud has frayed a bit from her great play of last year and Dementieva hasn't quite found the mental toughness to match her big strokes. I think Dokic is very tough but on clay, I'd still give Seles the edge...

I think Serena and JenCap have some tough work ahead if they're going to meet in the semi's...I have to choose JenCap here though simply because she's pissed that she's lost lately to Serena and her experience on clay is more formidable; she really knows how to last, witness her final win last year at Roland Garros...

I'm picking Amelie to upset Serena, JennyCap, and Monica en route to the title! She will want to make up for that pitiful loss to Kremer last week and will mow down the field...or lose in the first round.

Wow. Kremer just lost a close three set match to Sugyama. Does losing to the tiny terror officially nix Kremer's giant killer status?

Uh, something's very wrong. Amy Frazier has a 5-0 first set lead against Monica? Uh, oh, I hope this doesn't mean Monica's trying to play with an injured foot; that's the only time she loses matches like this against lower ranked players. Unless she's not yet adjusted to the clay which seems unlikely...what'sup?

Okay, I've settled down. Monica's raced back to 3-5 in what seems a matter of moments..so all is not lost....whew! i hate it when she scares me like that...

Seles lost the first set 4-6 and is up in the 2nd set, 2-0...

ASV, Conchita, Amanda, Dementieva, Hantuckova, Pierce are all winners so far...Pierce beat Myskina! that says little ole Mary be getting her groove back....

Anna lost again....the girl is losing it...

Uh, Pirece beat Molik ... and has Hantuchova next (who had a tough three-setter against Neffa De Los Rios). Past v. Future? Nah - French Open Champion v. someone who's never shown us much on clay. The winner faces Schnyder or Mauresmo. Fun part of the draw!

Myskina faces Sanchez-Vicario next. Past v. Future? No! French Open Champion v. someone who's never shown us much on clay!

Yay to Monica for winning the second set against Frazier. Come on, Monica - you've got a great draw here!!!

Finally, a moment of silence for Anna Kournikova.

Thank you.

Not to beat a dead horse, but the another match going on right now features a French Open Champion v. an up&comer in Majoli v. Mikaelian. And tomorrow we'll see Capriati against Husarova (who is by no means young, but who's having the best year of her career).

That's five French Open champs in this draw! All, at this time, are still alive in the draw.

Monica seems to have gotten things back under control and is up a comfortable 4-0 in the third. If the Fam Circle site was any better maybe we could check the match statistics and find out what was going on in the first set.

I don't know what to do with my lil Anna!

Monica came through after an obviously slow start: 4-6, 6-3, 6-0....

Farina Elia went down! Anna K. is auditioning for the remake of "Three's Company."

Pierce vs. Hantuckova should be interesting. And I wonder how ASV and Martinez are going to do against the younger players...

TV coverage looks pretty good on ESPN starting on Thursday...which helps since the site is not so great...

This is a very big tournament for the top ten. Seles and Serena have strong chances to move to #3 pushing Hingis and Cljisters (both strangely choosing not to play this tournament) below them...With both Seles and Serena having several good opportunities to gain more points before the French, this is a big start. Hingis, Cljisters, JenCap, and Henin all have quite a few points to defend in the coming weeks...Seles and Serena don't...

I didn't know Monica was so close to being up to #3. Come on Baby!! Do it for daddy!! Go Mon!!

Serena just throttled Jennifer Hopkins 6-0 6-2. Next up is Natalie Dechy.

Is Martina Navratilova playing doubles? The web site says she is, but I don't see her name in the draw.

Wow, Monica and Serena both have a chance for #3. The rankings are starting to right themselves.

I condsider Monica more of a clay court, cause her past results really speak for themselves. And she really loves the French Open, so I think she's more of my favorite to win clay court events. And I'm glad that she has a chance to move up to #3 or so, and also Serena Williams is also showing me that she can with stand the pressure and win. But I love Monica more and she's my player more than anyone else.

Good grief...Amelie's in a third set with Schnyder. Schnyder's one of those annoying girls who will just up and decide to find her game against people I like. Have some more orange juice, Patty!

In further interesting news, it would appear that Jennifer Capriati is down 0-5 in the first set? I don't trust that information, though, seeing as how it is coming off the Family Circle web site.

C'mon Amelie!

Amelie is out. Dementieva is out. Stevenson withdrew. And Jen is down a set.

I wonder if Capriati will be able to regroup like Monica did yesterday.

Poor Hopkins. Serena let her have it.

Dokic, Martinez, and Amelie are OUT! According to the site, JenCap is tied at 4-4 in the third set. Dementieva looks to be down in the third set as well, unless as previously reported, she's already out. Stevenson withdrew. Damn, early demolition at the family circle cup...What is Amelie's problem? She's underachieving way too often for someone with her talent and game.

Dokic was steamrolled.

So with the disappointing results of Amelie and Dokic, the two hottest clay court players of last year have both gotten off to really shaky starts this season.

Dokic, I'm not a fan of, but I would like to see success for Amelie.

Last I saw, Capriati was on the ropes, but with the Family Cup's web site, who knows.

Capriati won 6-4 in the third. I root for all the wrong people. I don't remember the last time a player I like advanced past the first round of a tournament (myself included)!

Oh, well, when Amelie wins Rolland Garros this will all be but a distant memory

yahoo! jill won again! third round last week, and another visit to the third round this week. any idea why dementieva retired?


i am, inexplicably, the world's biggest jill craybas fan.

Serena had a tough match against Natalie Dechy. She won the first set in a tiebreak, and was down 1-3 in the second before she won the next 5 games.

Dementieva retired because of a lower leg strain.

Myskina beat ASV in two two sets (7-6 in both).

I know Martina Navratilova is playing (with Elena Likhotseva). I see her score online (they're about to be elimiated) yet I can't find them on the doubles draw.

I hate the Family Circle website.

Mary Pierce and Daniela Hantuchova up next.

Looks like Mary Pierce dispatched Hantuchova with relatively little difficulty.

So either Mary's on a good start or Hantuchova really cannot play on clay.

Smashnova continues her terrific year with a win over Dokic. I wish I'd seen the Schnyder/Mauresmo match so that I could say whether Amelie really sucked or if Schnyder played up to her potential. Patty can be a very frustrating opponent when she's on. Schnyder could be a good test of where Mary's tennis is(and Serena will be the ultimate test, of course).
I'd love to see Mary back on form.

Suarez destroyed Meghann Shaughnessy. I thought Suarez should beat Shaughnessy on clay but 6-1, 6-1?

Meghann had a great year last year. Now it looks like she's going through a sophomore slump (as the tennis commentators are so fond of saying.)

I'm not exactly sure what's happened in women's tennis, but Dokic, Mauresemo, Dementieva, Hantuchova, and Shaugnessy have all entered into slumps (some longer than others.) Davenport is out with an injury. Clijsters hasn't really recovered from whatever's ailing her (and where is she anyway?). Hingis has disappeared since the Nasdaq. Henin is playing well, but she definitely has some mental hang-ups.

The gap between Capriati and Venus is not very much. The gap between Venus and Hingis is over a thousand points and will be even more distant when Hingis loses her points for the Family Cup.

Serena and Monica both have a great chance to improve their rankings as of this tournament. If the top four seeds for the French are Venus, Serena, Jen Cap, and Monica (in whatever order), I would say that's pretty accurate as to how the game is going.

I just don't think clay is Hantuchova's surface. She should play much better on hard courts, and should play well on grass, too. And my two cents is that losing to Mary Pierce 3 and 4 on clay isn't so bad...

Dementieva has been in and out of form, as has Dokic. Dokic, though, has had a pretty solid year, with a highlight being her victory over Seles at the Paris Indoor event. And, heck, she's won a title this year (the event in Sarasota, FL).

Hey Lev

If your predictions for the French rankings are on target (and I hope they are) - would this be the first time that four American women held the top seeds at the French Open?

Hank, I don't know. But it's very possible.

Of course, the FO is still a bit aways and Hingis hasn't started her season yet, so I guess it's kind of premature.

The one thing that's nearly certain is that (barring injury) 1 and 2 will both be Americans.

Monica started off rather shakily, falling behind 1-4 in the first set, but she seems to be storming back now, it's 3-4 with Foretz serving...

Seles is definitely a little off..MJF reports that she had a stomach virus yesterday and pulled out of doubles. She's just a tad off kilter and this young french girl is playing steady strong tennis...
It's now 5-4 Foretz, who's about to try and serve for the first set...

Foretz just won the first set 6-4 hitting two key aces during the game. Monica's footwork looks a little out of wack but her groundies are shaping up nicely. It'll be tough but I think she'll start grooving now..

bye, Monica

that #3 ranking would have looked swell on your mantle

a very painful loss for Monica, she was clearly under the weather blowing a couple of set points and spraying balls left and right...Foretz played well though, hitting aces over and over on key points..Monica was obviously suffering from whatever stomach flu she had yesterday...Luckily, she's not losing any points and there's still several weeks to go before the French Open..moving up in the rankings would have been nice but there's still time for that...

Monica still has plenty of chances to recover points. Won't she be getting some here by default?

Very upset that she lost, but it's a testament to her character that despite injury and illness she still plays.

Now Serena is within very close striking distance of #3, her best ranking ever.

[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: Lev Stone ]

Other winners today -

Amanda Coetzer over Paolo Suarez in three

Anastasia Myskina won over Clarisa Fernandez in three

Patty Schnyder beat Mary Pierce in two

Iva Majoli beat Anna Smashnova in three

Sandrine Testud beat Jill Craybas in two

Jennifer Capriati beat Alexandra Fusai in two.

Next round matches:

Capriati vs. Myskina
Serena vs. Schnyder
Coetzer vs. Majoli
Testud vs. Foretz

[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: Lev Stone ]

FYI, the Semi-finals and Finals will air on CBS this weekend.

Amelie Mauresmo looks like she's about to fall out of the Top 10, a year after she rocketed back into the elite with a remarkable clay court season. Sandrine Testud will replace her at #10, if my calculations are correct, if she can beat Majoli or Coetzer in the semis.

Too bad Foretz couldn't pull out this match. I've never been a huge fan of Testud, who just doesn't seem to care that much out there. Then again, she did just turn 30 this month, so I guess I should vote for her just out of camaraderie.

Serena has dropped a set to Patty Schynder. Serena won the first set 6-2; Patty won the second set 6-4.

Looks like Serena lost 7-5 in the third. More practice on the clay for her. But at least she get some points.

Another big upset. Serena goes down to Patty S. in three tough sets...

this match was all about Serena not having clay court patience - she hit a ton of gorgeous overpowering winners but she also hit a ton of impatient overhit balls - Patty S. hung in there and played the big points very well - all her loopy stuff is perfect for the clay - none of the big power players are invincible on clay, but JenCap seems to be the one, as well as Monica when she's healthy, who gets clay the best...

Well, Monica and Serena don't jump up as much as we all would have liked but they certainly don't lose anything after this tournament..they're solidly in the running for the #3rd and 4th spot in the rankings...

Now, this is Capriati's tournament to win or lose...the best play I've seen so far though has come from Coetzer, and now Patty S., of course...we'll see if the upsets are over??

I know Serena made alot of errors, but Patty Schnyder showed a ton of heart and played with moxy. She was down 0-3 in the 3rd and was down a match point, too. (Serving at 4-5, I believe.) She played strong when she needed to and let Serena implode the rest of the way.

I wasn't happy with Schnyder outsting Mauresmo, but I have to say that it's really nice seeing Patty show some guts and do her talent justice.

Well, I wouldn't have thunk it. Patty Schnyder has defeated two Grand Slam champions and a finalist to get to the semis of the Family Circle Cup. She's denied Serena a #3 ranking (for the time being) and destroyed tournament promoters' (and CBS execs') dreams of a marquee Capriati/Serena matchup, in which Serena could have wrested the #1 ranking away from Capriati and given it to Venus. She's back in the Top 20 and could be able to set herself up for a top 16 seed at Roland Garros.

Maybe she thought the orange juice jokes were getting a little sour?

It's up to Jennifer to rescue this tournament (for the general public, not for the rest of us). The path is clear for a defense of her title WITHOUT HAVING TO FACE A SEEDED PLAYER! Would it be a cheap victory? Yes. Is it a sure thing? Obviously not.

Capriati is already up on Myskina, 5-0. She HAS to see the finish line. Looking at the rest of the field, methinks only Testud can give Jenny a real challenge. A Capriati vs. Majoli final might be interesting, too...