A crowd of 10,592 people was on hand to watch Venus Williams face No. 7 Madison Keys in yesterday’s Charlotte Invitational, a “one-night tennis exhibition held in the Spectrum Center.” Williams, despite being the lowest-ranked player of the four in the event, “drew the loudest cheers.” Getting to see Williams “seemed enough for many in the crowd.” This was the second year of the invitational. The crowd was “respectable,” but it was more than 5,000 people shy of last year’s 16,194 total. That number was “largely driven” by Carlos Alcaraz, who played American Frances Tiafoe. This time, Tiafoe, now No. 30, played No. 6 Taylor Fritz. Tiafoe “twice brought people out of the crowd to hit a few balls Thursday,” bringing on former NBAer Gordon Hayward and Panthers QB Andy Dalton (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/5).
Venus Williams draws excitement at Charlotte Invitational
