2004 Family Circle Cup

A Debut to Remember for Venus Williams

This past April, Family Circle Cup brought to Daniel Island one of the best player fields in the history of the tournament including such top players as Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and Venus Williams. With players like that the tournament was destined to be a week filled with many surprises both on the court and off. As always, the fans were not disappointed. They caught a glimpse of today’s top players as well as many of tomorrow’s future stars on the women’s pro tour.

As defending champion, Justine traveled to Charleston to defend her title and was very disappointed to have to withdraw before her first match due to hypoglycemia. Even with Justine’s withdraw, the competition on the court was at a very high level and produced some of the most exciting tennis of the season so far. The Family Circle Cup has always been known as the “birthplace of stars” and by the end of the tournament week the tennis world was introduced to many new talented young women who are set to be the stars of the sport’s new generation.

Four up and coming young players on the WTA Tour (Jelena Kostanic, Petra Mandula, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova) really made their mark during the tournament so no one should be surprised when their names appear in tennis headlines more often over the next year. The seasoned veterans also turned in some good results as well. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova appeared in her last Family Circle Cup this year and the four time Cup champion ended her record here in grand style. She made international headlines for the tournament by competing in both singles and doubles and even though the 47 year-old lost in singles to Amy Frazier she ended the week on a high note by reaching the doubles final. Two-time Family Circle Cup champion Conchita Martinez recorded two milestones during the week by capturing her 700th career match victory and celebrating her 32nd birthday.

The 2004 Family Circle Cup final between Venus Williams and Conchita Martinez had all the ingredients of a great final and it did not disappoint. The two finalists have very different styles but the one thing they had in common was their desire to win one of the most coveted trophies in women’s tennis. Conchita, a clay court specialist, played a near flawless first set and many fans who watched that match in person and on television felt that the momentum was going in her direction. However, there was one problem Venus had other plans. As one of only 12 women in the tournament’s history to reach the finals in her debut appearance, Venus came back and won the 2nd set forcing the final to three sets. Over the past 32 years, the Family Circle Cup singles championship has gone three sets only nine times. Once Venus took control, the third set was over in 38 minutes. Venus Williams became the 2004 Family Circle Cup champion with a score of 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. It was a week she would always remember. “I’ve never had so much support in any city I’ve been to…I’m coming back.”