Day 7 of the Volvo Car Open brought us down to JUST FOUR playeers left!!! Each of them survived the round of 16 through fearless play, upsetting all the top seeds along the way. I look at each of the four players left in the draw and find I like every single one of them for different reasons: Laura Siegemund, Daria Kastkina, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Jelena Ostapenko. Who will YOU be cheering for as we enter Semi-final Saturday?!?
Day 5 of the Volvo Car Open had a number of major upsets…as well as some huge triumphs. Not the least of which was Charleston’s own Shelby Rogers, who defeated the Number 1 seed, Madison Keys, in 3 sets!!! And who can forget Laura Seigemund’s battle over Venus Williams?!?
Day 3 of the Volvo Car Open started with me hanging out with Jennifer Brady at Charleston Day School. The kids LOVED her!
Then it was on to the MUSC Children’s Hospital where Darija Jurak and Misaki Doi took time out of their busy practice schedules to go and play with some kids that really needed some cheering up!
I then zipped over to the Daniel Island Club to photograph the All Access Media Hour, where 8 of the top seeds gather to be interviewed by various media outlets. Madison Keys, Johanna Konta Venus Williams, Samantha Stosur, Elena Vesnina, KiKi Bertens, and Daria Gavrilova were among the stars I got to photograph. Even last year’s Champion, Sloan Stephens, made in appearance, in spite of not being able to play this year due to injury.
Finally, I headed to the Family Circle Tennis Center to photograph several matches, including former Champions Andrea Petkovic and Jelena Jankovic, plus local home-town hero Shelby Rogers, before the rain drove us all indoors.
It’s all in a day’s work when you’re the official photographer at this world-class professional women’s tennis tournament!!!
Day two of the Volvo Car Open had me photographing what’s known as the Iconic Photo Shoot. This is where we photograph two of the top players at an iconic Charleston location. Previous locations have included the beach on Isle of Palms, and the flight deck of The USS Yorktown!
This year the selected location was The Cistern on the College of Charleston campus. The team from WTA even set up a net across The Cistern so the players could play a few points during the photo shoot. Before the players arrived, the C of C tennis team arrived for a couple cool photos!
Eventually, Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova arrived for the shoot. We all had a BLAST and came away with some really cool images with which to promote this year’s Volvo Car Open!!! 🙂
A big sight of relief! After another year of anticipation and preparation, day 1 of the 2017 Volvo Car Open is under the belt.
The first Saturday is always full of fun. It’s not only the first day of qualifying for the un-seeded players, but it’s also Family Day. There are tons of activities for the kids, tennis clinics, autograph sessions, and of course world-class tennis matches!
To add to the excitement, this year the PowerShares series was moved from the second Saturday to the first Saturday of the tournament. Featuring legends of the game like John MacEnroe, Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Mark Philippousis, the evening was not only a showcase of the men’s talent, but also entertaining with the humerous banter between them!
Stay tuned for tons more action to come as I cover this annual WTA tournament, my 16th as their official photographer!!!
The Family Circle Cup has a new title sponsor and is now the Volvo Car Open!
Don’t worry, the longest running and largest women’s professional tennis tournament is still the same amazing event it always has been…just with a new name. 🙂
Here are some images from the days before the official start of the tournament. My coverage began with the annual Iconic Photo Shoot, featuring the two previous champions, Angie Kerber and Andrea Petkovic. It continued with all kinds of player appearances and activities during the Family Day at qualifying rounds. And it culminated in the always amazing Player Party, which officially welcomes all the players to town and kicks of the tournament with a bang!
Stay tuned…seven more days of awesome tennis to come!!!
