Top-seed Radwanska withdraws from Family Circle Cup

It’s amazing how one player’s decision can have such an impact on a tournament, or in this case, one set of sisters.

Case in point: Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew from the Family Circle Cup on Sunday, ending the possibility of Venus and Serena Williams meeting in next Sunday’s final of the $740,000 WTA Tour event on Daniel Island.

According to the WTA Tour’s rules, fifth-seeded Serena Williams has been switched from the bottom slot of the top half of the main draw to the No. 3 seed spot in the bottom half of the draw. Third seed Marion Bartoli now resides in the No. 1 draw slot vacated by Radwanska, who listed a back injury as the reason for her withdrawal.

Radwanska defeated Maria Sharapova on Saturday in the singles final of the super tournament Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Unseeded wild-card Venus Williams is in the opposite quarter of the bottom half of the draw from her sister, meaning the two legends of the game and holders of a combined 20 Grand Slam singles titles could meet in the semifinals. Prior to Radwanski’s withdrawal, the two sisters could have met in the final.

This comes after Saturday’s re-draw, which was created by a shortage in the proper number of chips in the draw container, where Venus was relocated from a possible third-round meeting with Serena to the opposite half of the draw.

The switch means that Serena Williams will play a Tuesday night second-round match in Family Circle Stadium against the winner of today’s Elena Vesnina/Stephanie DuBois match.

Family Circle general manager Bob Moran confirmed the Tuesday night appearance for Serena.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose Agi,” Moran said. “But we have a strong field and good matchups all the way through the draw.”

Reach James Beck at jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his columns on pro tennis at ubitennis.com/english.