Birmingham draw released

The draw for the dfs Classic in Birmingham, UK has been released and Maria is the #1 seed and has a bye in the 1st round.  In the 2nd round Maria will play either Varvara Lepchenko of Russia or Lilia Osterloh of the United States.  Maria has played Osterloh once before in San Diego in 2004 and won in straight sets.  The 1st seed Maria can meet is #13 seed Meilen Tu of the United States in the 3rd round.

Birmingham is the 1st event of the grass season before Wimbledon which begins in 2 weeks time.

Maria has played Birmingham 4 times before and has at least reached the semis each year and won here in 2004 and 2005.