Fatigued Dementieva Makes 4 of Top 6 for Family Circle Cup Charleston

The 2008 Olympic gold medalist's entry adds to a Charleston player field that now includes four of the Top 6 players in the world. She was a runner-up in Charleston in 2005.

Dementieva joins world No. 1 and defending Family Circle Cup champion Serena Williams, world No. 5 Venus Williams, No. 6 Vera Zvonareva, and No. 9 Nadia Petrova. The Family Circle Cup follows The MPS Group Championships (where Petrova is currently the top-seeded player) on the WTA Tour calendar, and is two weeks after the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
 
"We're very excited that another Top 5-ranked player has chosen to begin their claycourt season at the Family Circle Cup," said Eleanor Adams, Family Circle Cup Tournament manager. "Elena Dementieva has already posted some impressive results this year, and if her long history of success at this event is an indicator of future results, our fans are sure in for a treat this April."

Dementieva's impressive results this year didn't include this week in Indian Wells, where she exited in the first round before blaming fatigue from her early-season successes in January.

"I shouldn't have come [to Indian Wells] because I didn't have enough time to recover after playing so many matches in the beginning of the year," Dementieva said. "I just needed a much longer break to get ready to play at my best."

Besides problems balancing her schedule for the big events, Dementieva says she is looking forward to possibly winning a first Charleston title.

"I've come close to winning the Family Circle Cup, and this is a title that I would like to own in my career, so I'm really looking forward to competing in Charleston," Dementieva said.

The 27-year-old Russian, who resides in Monte Carlo, has made 41 consecutive Grand Slam appearances and owns a 501-241 win-loss record over her career, earning over $11,000,000 in prize money.