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BY JAMES BECK
Little Charleston, S.C., is playing a major role at the French Open this year.
Two long-time Charleston residents are in the women’s main draw of the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. Shelby Rogers is actually a native of the area, and Emma Navarro has been around since her early years and attended school in Charleston.
ROGERS IS A SEED THIS TIME
Rogers is a seed for the first time in a major, coming in as the No. 32nd seed. She is 30 years old and ranked No. 34 in the world, her highest ranking as a pro.
Rogers has a little of a bad draw, having to go against 38th-ranked Petric Martic of Croatia in the first round,
Navarro is something of a surprise with a red-hot streak leading up to Paris. The 22-year-old former NCAA champion at the University of Virginia was ranked in the 130s going into March, but was awarded a USTA French Open wild card.
NAVARRO NOW 75TH IN WORLD
As a result of her recent success, Navarro has lifted her current world ranking to No. 75 in the world.
Navarro was a quarterfinalist at the current $259K WTA Strasbourg tournament, losing to Russian Anna Blinkova. She will face another Russian, 55th-ranked Anna Kalinskaya, in the first round in Paris.
Navarro also was a quarterfinalist in the $115K De Saint Malo French event earlier in the month.
Navarro won the $60K ITF event in Charlottesville, Va., before leaving the U.S. That was just a week after winning a $100K ITF in Charleston, S.C.
MORE CHARLESTON CONNECTIONS
Of course, word leaked out in 2020 that Pittsburgh product Alison Riske and her husband Stephen Amritraj had purchased a house in downtown Charleston. Navarro resides in downtown Charleston.
Riske-Amritraj also is in the main draw of this French Open. She is currently ranked 85th in the world and will face 16-year-old Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva in the first round of the French Open.
Riske has another Charleston link in that she won the Junior Family Circle Cup way back in 2010. In the process, she earned a wild card into qualifying for the then Family Circle Cup. The event is now known as Credit One Charleston Open, owned by Emma Navarro’s father Ben Navarro.
A bunch of other players in the French Open main draw have connections to Charleston, Including top-ranked Iga Swiatek, through their success in Charleston ITF or WTA Tour events.
It certainly looks like this will be a big French Open for Charleston tennis fans.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
