2017 Volvo Car Open - Semifinal Saturday

Daria Kasatkina has not taken her eye off the ball

Daria Kasatkina has looked strong and played well all week at the 2017 Volvo Car Open. She played her way into a semifinal Saturday match against 29-year old Laura Siegemund who has recorded the most upset victories in the tourney. It could be that this match up of the two hottest players will reveal the 2017 VCO Champion.

The other semifinal Jelena Ostapenko will square off agains the highest remaining seeded player at the VCO, #11 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni who is a veteran WTA Tour player.

To view past blog entries about the Volvo Car Open click on 2017 - 2016- 2015- 2014- 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 

2017 Volvo Car Open - Tennis Channel Takeover

Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, Mark Philappoussis
and James Blake pose with a fan on Saturday

The professional ladies tennis tournament that is now referenced as the Volvo Car Open has called the Lowcountry home for 45 years. Due to unwavering support from both the tennis pros and tennis fans, this tournament stood the test of time as other events double faulted into history. Strong corporate support never hurt any sporting event, and the 2017 tournament is set to expand with the Tennis Channel bringing unprecedented national coverage April 3 – 9.

2016 VCO Winner Sloane Stephens on Tennis Channel

Then in 2016 Volvo took over as title sponsor, after announcing they will build an auto manufacturing facility in the Lowcountry. The 2016 event saw improvements after Volvo’s partnership, including daily test driving of Volvo cars for tennis patrons, and even awarding a brand new Volvo to American Sloan Stephens for winning their inaugural tourney. This bigger and bolder corporate presence paved the way for a new 8-year contract with the Tennis Channel, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, to televise and live stream the Volvo Car Open for years to come.

Tennis fans can take a test drive with anything from this Volvo Fleet!

The qualifying matches for the 2017 Volvo Car Open began April 1, in what can only be described as near perfect weather. The weekend schedule was heavy on family fun with a kids tennis clinic, autograph sessions, and the chance to see some exhibition tennis from some men’s tennis stars. In fact, the only tennis played on the stadium court Saturday included pros John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Mark Phillappoussis and James Blake. Also happening was the official pairings for the 2017 Volvo Car Open took final shape.

To view the feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries about the Volvo Car Open click on 2017 - 2016- 2015- 2014- 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 

2017 Volvo Car Open - Tuesday Tennis

String Music is NEW to the Volvo Car Open

Tuesday Tennis fans were out in droves

The weather for Tuesday April 4 at the Volvo Car Open was warm and sunny. A full slate of tennis matches was completed, including the first night matches of the tournament week. Tuesday is also Ladies Day at the Volvo Stadium facility and sponsor Lisette gave a fashion show while make up and massage sponsors stepped up too. The grounds were fill of festivities for visitors to enjoy, and the quality of tennis on four different courts gave patrons a lot of options to choose from.

Local player Shelby Rogers on Stadium Court on Tuesday

The contrast of play was no more stark that the side-by-side matches on Courts 3 and 4. Daria Kasatkina defeated Danka Kovinic in straight sets on Court 4 in just under one hour. The next match on Court 4 saw Lucie Safarova battle for nearly three hours before defeating Varvara Lepchecnko in front of an appreciative gallery of tennis fans. On Stadium Court, Shelby Rogers from Daniel Island defeated Veronica Cepede Royg in her opening match of the 2017 Volvo Car Open.

To view the full results from Tuesday Tennis click on Volvo Car Open.

To view past blog entries from Volvo Car Open Click on 2017 - 2016- 2015- 2014- 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 

Rodionova playing on the Althea Gibson Court

2017 Volvo Car Open - Tennis Begins

Monica Puig won her First Round Match Monday

While the qualifying rounds of the 2017n Volvo Car Open on Daniel Island were played over the weekend of April 1 and 2, history was made during the first round matches on Monday April 3. The Tennis Channel began Day One of their 8-year contract to televise and live stream every match played during the Volvo Car Open. The 2016 Volvo Car Open Champion Sloan Stephens is injured this year, and so she is helping with the TV commentary duties in 2017.

Smiling faces were evident at the VCO main draw pairings

The wind was blowing hard on April 3

Monday also marks the annual All Access Media Day with the top-eight seeds for this years Volvo Cars Open. A major story developed when British player and No. 2 seed Johanna Konta withdrew from the event due to injury. She just won the Miami Open tournament on April 1, but she was playing through injury and decided on the morning of April 3 that she must now rest that injury. Number One seed Madison Keys was the first tennis pro to arrive for media and she gave an in depth interview about how she feels heading into the 2017 Volvo Car Open.

To view the results of play from April 3 click Volvo Car Open.

To view past blog entries from the Volvo Car Open click 2016 - 2015- 2014- 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 

Number One Seed Madison Keys at Media Day