The draw for the tier 1 event at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston has been released and Maria is the #2 seed and has a bye in the 1st round. In the 2nd round to be played on either Tuesday or Wednesday, Maria will play either Meng Yuan of China or Bethanie Mattek of the United States.
Maria has never played Yuan before and played Mattek way back at the end of 2002 in the qualifying of a challenger and won in straight sets. The 1st seed Maria can meet is #14 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain. Maria is seeded to meet #5 seed Serena Williams of the United States in the quarters and #3 seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the semis. Top seed Jelena Jankovic and #4 seed Jelena Jankovic round off the draw in the top half.
Maria has played here once before in 2003 when she was 15 and came through qualifying, losing in the 1st round.