Why not bring ATP event here?

Now that Maria Sharapova's coming, what about the boys?

Not at the same time, of course. The Family Circle Cup doesn't need any guys to share Sharapova's stage.

And although no one has indicated that Daniel Island has the slightest chance of stealing the ATP Tour's Tennis Channel Open from Las Vegas, the question remains: why not?

After several poorly attended events in Las Vegas, that tournament appears to be headed elsewhere. Let's hope not to South Africa or some other foreign country as rumors have it.

Early March in Charleston might be too chilly for the tough ATP Tour guys. This year's Las Vegas tournament was held March 3-9. And the timing may be a little too close to the early-to-mid April Family Circle Cup.

There's the clay-court issue as well. Las Vegas is hard courts. The guys probably wouldn't want to play on clay right before the super Indian Wells and Miami events on hard courts. But why not have an American clay-court season for a couple of tournaments? The ATP Tour surely could alter its schedule and put the U.S. Clay Courts and the Las Vegas replacement in back-to-back weeks.

The word is that the ATP Tour wants to buy the Las Vegas event from the Tennis Channel and move it out of the country. Of course, our USTA owns a $6 million stake in the Tennis Channel, which makes you think this sale might not go through.

Oh, well, we can always hope that the U.S. Clay Courts finally leave Houston and head back home to Charleston. Holding a combined men's and women's event at the same time would be a big, but maybe manageable task for the Family Circle Tennis Center. But the Family Circle Cup is all about women . . . and, right now, Maria Sharapova.

Serena dominance

What is it about Serena Williams at Miami when she's facing Justine Henin?

Remember, last year Henin shut out Serena in the first set of the final and practically had the match won, only to allow Serena to come back and win. That one really hit home for the 2007 Family Circle Cup when, during the post-match press conference, Henin announced that she was pulling out of Charleston.

Henin's 6-2, 6-0 loss to Serena on Tuesday must have been even more painful to the tiny Belgian. Let's hope it doesn't have the same effect as last year's loss.

Women's tickets

If you're interested in the half-price women's tickets for the April 15 Girls Night Out by The Post and Courier at the Family Circle Cup, call the Family Circle box office (800-677-2293) and mention the discount.

College update

--Toby Simpson's Citadel team, which not long ago was trying to snap out of a 20-match losing streak, has had a reversal of fortune, just the opposite of the College of Charleston men (6-13, 1-6) as the two teams head into today's 2 p.m. confrontation at Patriots Point. While the Cougars have lost seven of their last eight matches, The Citadel (13-9, 3-3) has become one of the Southern Conference's better teams.

After today, C of C will play at Lees-McRae on Friday and Appalachian State on Saturday. The Citadel will take on SoCon rival Georgia Southern on Friday at 2 p.m. at Earle Tennis Center.

--The C of C women (18-2, 5-0) have a huge weekend planned, playing three SoCon matches on the road Friday-Sunday against Wofford, perennial power Furman and Appalachian State.

--Charleston Southern's women (9-6-1, 4-1) have a rescheduled home match next Tuesday against Big South Conference rival Coastal Carolina. The CSU men (11-7, 4-2) will play at Clemson on Sunday.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com or 937-5540.