Serena has no problem with whom she plays

At the Cup

Serena Williams doesn't worry about the competition, and that was evident Monday when she arrived at the Family Circle Cup unaware that Justine Henin had withdrawn from this week's tournament.

"I thought she was in the tournament until you told me that," Williams said. "I'll play anybody with the exception of (Rafael) Nadal, (Roger) Federer and (Fabrice) Santoro. Other than that, I'm open for anybody."

Anybody could be No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova, if both she and Williams reach the quarterfinals, a pairing worthy of the championship round in most tournaments.

Williams likes her chances this week at the Family Circle Cup.

"I'm feeling really good about my game," she said. "I'm just taking everything a day at a time and not getting too excited or too depressed.

"I love playing on the clay. I have a lot of fun on the clay. And this is a good clay court. It's not too slow, it's not too fast and you can produce a good slide on it."

Venus in the house

Venus Williams is taking this week off as part of a brief hiatus from the WTA Tour, but Serena said her sister will be here to debut a new clothing line.

"She's here for a couple days this week, so you guys will see her around," Serena said. "We love it here. The people are so nice."

Thanks for the memories

Defending champion and No. 1 seed Jelena Jankovic is happy to be back on the clay at the Family Circle Cup.

"It feels great," she said. "I really love this place. It's a quiet and relaxing atmosphere and the people here are so nice. I always love coming back here, especially playing so great last year. I have such great memories."

Television coverage

This year's event will be televised on ESPN2.

Thursday's and Friday's broadcasts are set for 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. both days.

Saturday's semifinals will be broadcast from 1 p.m.-3 p.m., and Sunday's championship will begin at 1 p.m.

Cliff Drysdale, Mary Jo Fernandez and Pam Shriver will call the action.

Attendance

Official attendance at Monday's matches was 4,543, bringing the total to 13,234.

The tournament attracted 91,899 fans last April.

Tickets

Ticket packages and individual session tickets in all price ranges are on sale.

Ticket packages are available by calling (800) 677-2293.

Individual session tickets are available online at Ticketmaster.com.