Radu's not winning shit no matter where she plays. Lol!

 

Why isn't Emma playing in Charleston? If she wants to actually win matches and get back to where she wants to be, she can't be playing Stuttgart only. Last year, she got blasted off the court by Jelena, at least in Charleston she'd have a chance at winning a match.

 

Hopefully she plays Bogota.

 

the field is fine

of course it's not Stuttgart but Stuttgart pays $ so it's close to being a 1000 every year

 

Svitolina, Badosa and Fernandez also signed up for Charleston

 

Leylah FTW !!!

 

The only place Badosa should sign up for in the near future is chiropractice.

 

Emma Navarro has a duty to reach the final atleast, after being supported with almost a decade of Wildcards from Charleston

 

Navarro getting WCs for almost a decade????
Navarro is 22 y/o now...so, she was getting WCs when she was 12 y/o???

 

Badosa is making me angry. I understand that she wants to play but girl, take your time to heal, entering tournaments to retire during your R1 or R2 match is not the way.

 

No Osaka?

 

It's clay....

 

This. Emma doesn't really have a choice unless she wants to breach her contract. Being global Porsche ambassador is no joke.

^ Isn't it wonderful when sponsors dictate where players must play?
What's next? Will sponsors decide which balls a player is not permitted to play with?
It's insane. And the players are either blatantly stupid to agree to this, or incredibly greedy for doing anything for money.

Badosa is making me angry. I understand that she wants to play but girl, take your time to heal, entering tournaments to retire during your R1 or R2 match is not the way.

^ Who knows? this might be sponsor-related, as well.
It seems stupid for her to play now, after what has transpired in her (failed) attempted comeback - so maybe the contract she has with a sponsor (or sponsors) indicates that she must play 'X' number of tournaments in the first 'X' months of this year, so that the sponsor can get exposure.
And sponsors are too dumb to realize that when a player constantly quits in the middle of a tournament, it does more harm than good to her reputation, as well as to any sponsor connected to her.

 

^ Isn't it wonderful when sponsors dictate where players must play?
What's next? Will sponsors decide which balls a player is not permitted to play with?
It's insane. And the players are either blatantly stupid to agree to this, or incredibly greedy for doing anything for money.

Yep, that's the world we live in for good and bad. Main sponsors aren't labeling them ''brand ambassadors'' for nothing = like the President/Prime minister/dictator of any country, they send ambassadors where they want. Same thing these corporate moguls are doing in professional sports.

Elite players are entangled in it. Emma Raducanu must register to the elitist Stuttgart event by very royal sponsor obligations, just as the other Emma has to play her dad's venue at Charleston since she's a little girl. And Leylah Fernandez is obligated the same way to always register there and San Diego because of her elitist sponsor Morgan&Stanley.

They play where they're told to ( as soon as a pro has a main sponsor giving top dollar ), nearing around half the tournaments they play ( more in fact by excluding mandatory GSs ). And they play with heavier balls, on slower courts, and WTA player council has no power despite their claims to change things.

About the thread = the ones playing Charleston have opportunities to practice on green clay, while top european players doing Stuttgart have a chance to save their pocket change and win a Porsche they could buy with their own money if they really wanted it.

 

Stefanini too is sponsored by Porsche so she will have to play in Stuttgart despite her preference for har-tru

 

Who?? A doubles player has a contract with Porsche ?

 

Yep, Charleston looks like a poor relative compared to Stuttgart. Never been there but it looks like a nice city.

 

Charleston has a good field, what are y'all talking about.

 

GAUFF added for Stuttgart

 

Penko and Kasatkina added to Charleston

 

penko trying to win as many 500s as possible this year

 

Why isn't Emma playing in Charleston? If she wants to actually win matches and get back to where she wants to be, she can't be playing Stuttgart only. Last year, she got blasted off the court by Jelena, at least in Charleston she'd have a chance at winning a match.

She could play both like Ons

It's certainly possible for her to play both, as there's a week off between both tournaments. If she exits early in Miami, she could also play the 125 in San Luis Potosi during the second week of Miami just to get some clay practice in. I doubt she will though.

Hopefully she plays Bogota.

All eyes would be on the Bogota Slam

 

Hopefully VJK gets a contract with Porsche Andorra soon.

 

Stuttgart is tough field and Charleston schedules to give the US players plenty of rest and screw over other players, I've posted about that a lot
I would skip both unless awful in Miami and you have a lot of free time before Madrid and you want matches
If I remember right some US players had 3 finished matches in Charleston before Fernandez had played a set

 

Charleston is one of the most boring tournaments we have. Add that to the awful aesthetic of it, the frcking green clay, come on that's not even proper clay. Not to mention it's after 4 frcking weeks of tennis in IW and Miami. Unless you're a real addcit, after a whole month of 2 endless masters, the greyish depressing 500 Charleston is the last thing you wanna see.

 

I suppose it’s an each-to-their-own thing, I love everything about Charleston. It’s my favourite tournament site and I love har-tru as it looks great and produces the highest quality tennis, plus a lot of my favourites have always played this tournament

 

Money can buy Diva's but not class like Sakkari.

 

Stuttgart need to expand their facilities and become a 1000-level tournament like Monte Carlo. Their fields are ridiculously strong for a 500.

 

They could easily become another 1000 event if they had the space for a couple more courts to hold the early rounds, but I have no idea how big the venue is that hosts the event and if that is possible.

 

Charleston’s field is strong, half the top 20 will arrive. The green clay is a great transitional surface from hard to red clay.

 

Charleston is one of the best run tournaments in a small city on an island next to a park! Not to mention portrait of former champion Sabine Lisicki in clubhouse💚 This year is extra special as hometown girl Emma Ice Girl Navarro returns as a seed.

 

 

 

Drova, Collins, Azarenka and Kalinskaya may withdraw as well. Maybe not all but 2 or 3 is highly possible.

Sakkari could take a break after her successful Sunshine double but she's not playing Stuttgart so I guess she'll play.

 

Little 5'2 Lauren Davis has come back to life and she didn't even make a trip to Transylvania.
Davis hasn't played since last September...6 months ago.
She plays Vickery tomorrow, Saturday.