WTA Previews: No Williamses in Charleston; Aggie in Poland

The 2015 WTA claycourt season kicks off in Charleston with the Premier-level Family Circle Cup, and the not-so-premier Katowice Open in Poland. Top 10ers Aggie Radwanska, Eugenie Bouchard, Ekaterina Makarova, Andrea Petkovic are in action, here’s a look at the two fields:
ADHEREL
FAMILY CIRCLE CUP
Charleston, S.C., USA; Surface: clay

Seeds: Eugenie Bouchard, Ekaterina Makarova, Andrea Petkovic, Sara Errani, Angelique Kerber, Jelena Jankovic, Madison Keys, Caroline Garcia, Samantha Stosur, Varvara Lepchenko, Zarina Diyas, Belinda Bencic, Irina-Camelia Begu, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Mona Barthel, Heather Watson

Floaters: Donna Vekic, Sloane Stephens

Notes: Three Top 10 players in the field after the slumping Bouchard took the wildcard…Keys the only seeded American player…Not a lot of floating talent in the field, with a potential tough start for (16) Watson vs. the riser Vekic; (1) Bouchard could face Stephens in the 3rd rd…Wildcards went to Bouchard and Americans Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sachia Vickery…Notable withdrawals from the field were Sabine Lisicki, Peng Shuai, Lucie Safarova and Taylor Townsend…Petkovic beat Slovak Jana Cepelova in last year’s seat-clearing final…Former champs in the field are Petkovic (2014), Stosur (2010), and Jankovic (2007).

KATOWICE OPEN
Katowice, Poland; Surface: indoor hard

Seeds: Agnieszka Radwanska, Alize Cornet, Camila Giorgi, Magdalena Rybarikova, Kaia Kanepi, Karin Knapp, Kirsten Flipkens, Anna Schmiedlova

Floaters: Yanina Wickmayer, Vera Zvonareva, Annika Beck

Notes: One Top 10 seed in the homecountry Radwanska, but then the seed quality falls off the table…Potential opening-round challenges for (1) Radwanska vs. the resurgent Wickmayer, (6) Knapp vs. the veteran Zvonareva, and (7) Flipkens vs. the German comer Beck…Wildcards were awarded to France’s Oceane Dodin, and Poland’s Magdalena Frech and Urszula Radwanska…Pulling from the field were Vitalia Diatchenko, Julia Goerges, Johanna Larsson, Karolina Pliskova, and Slam winner Francesca Schiavone…Cornet beat Giorgi in last year’s final, and Roberta Vinci won the inaugural tournament in 2013.