WTA Apr 2-8: Charleston

Family Circle Cup, Charleston, SC
PREMIER 700 $740,000 56m/48q/16d
outdoor: green clay Har-Tru
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n5 Samantha Stosur
n7 Marion Bartoli
n9 Vera Zvonareva
n11 Serena Williams
n13 Sabine Lisicki
n15 Jelena Jankovic
n21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
n25 Lucie Safarova
n27 Anabel Medina Garrigues
n32 Christina McHale
n33 Yanina Wickmayer

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Charleston:

#25 Lucie Safarova
5'9" 141lb LH 2H-BH

Charleston:

#11 (last week, #10 this week) Serena Williams
5'9" 150lb RH 2H-BH

On Sunday at Charleston, South Carolina, in the final of the Family Circle Cup, the 2008 Charleston champion (and last year's champ at Toronto and Stanford), 30 year old 5th seeded #11 (on the drawsheet, #10 this week, and former #1) Serena Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, crushed, killed and destroyed the 2006 champion at Gold Coast, 25 year old 9th seeded #25 (career high: #22) Lucie Safarova from Brno, Czech Republic, 6-0, 6-1 (Lucie shown during the match; Serena is shown with the glassware afterward).

Serena's prize is $115,000; Lucie's prize is $59,000. It is Serena's first clay court title since she won the Family Circle Cup in 2008.

The match took only 58 minutes. Serena (5 aces, 1 double fault) scored 57 points, and scored on 5 of the 6 break points she reached against Lucie; Lucie (1 ace, 3 DFs), who had demolished her semifinal opponent Polona Hercog 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday, scored only 27 points, and could not convert any of the four break points she reached against Serena.

Serena had lost only two games to Samantha Stosur in their semifinal. Serena said: "I don’t know what was going on with me the last two matches. But I hope I can keep it up." Post & Courier story

Lucie said: "[Serena] was amazing. She deserved it."

Serena now leads Lucie 5-0 in career matches. Their previous meeting was last year on a Deco-Turf hardcourt in the quarterfinals in Toronto, when Serena, on her way to the title, defeated Lucie 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

13 time Grand Slam singles champion Serena is now 40-15 in WTA singles finals. Serena was playing in her third Charleston final; she lost to Justine Henin in the 2003 final, and defeated Vera Zvonareva in the 2008 final.
Serena won the 2010 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, then stepped on broken glass at a restaurant after Wimbledon later that year and was sidelined for about 11 months, during which she also suffered from a pulmonary embolism. Upon returning to play last year she won the Stanford and Toronto titles.
Serena has a 15-2 singles match record this season. Her two losses were to Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals at Miami, and to lefty Ekaterina Makarova in the 4th round of the Australian Open.

Lucie is now 4-7 in WTA singles finals; she won at Gold Coast in 2006 and Estoril in 2005, and also won the tiny tourney (aub-Tier IV) at Forest Hills in 2008 and 2005. Last year she reached the finals at Kuala Lumpur and Copenhagen. Lucie's 2012 singles match record is 13-9.
Lucie also reached the doubles final in Charleston, partnered with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; they defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova 5-7, 6-4, (10-6)

(Mar 31, 2012) The Brazilian tennis federation has announced that Brazil will host a WTA tournament beginning in 2013. The franchise they have been awarded was vacated by the Marbella, Spain, tourney, which followed Miami on the WTA calendar (the same week as Charleston). Brazil has not hosted a WTA event for the past 11 years. AP story

WTA SCOREBOARD: Charleston

s=seed, n=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser
ranks are for the previous week
How do players get into the "draw"?

The Family Circle Cup Charleston, South Carolina

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tourney time:

= GMT -4 hours
= US EDT
= US PDT +3 hours

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

click for broader view Family Circle Tennis Center on Daniel Island
Latitude: 32.862241 Long.: -79.902041 goto link for World Wind

Charleston: The 56 player main draw for Charleston has 16 seeds, with 8 1st-round byes. There are 12 qualifiers and 5 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying (2 rounds) is on Saturday & Sunday. Main draw play begins on Monday at 10am.

The Family Circle Cup, one of the longest-running WTA-only events in the US, was held at Hilton Head until the Family Circle Tennis Center was opened in the spring of 2001. A 32-acre facility with a 10,200 seat stadium, the Family Circle Tennis Center has 13 green clay (Har-Tru) and 4 hard courts, all lighted for night play. A 10,000 square foot clubhouse also serves as the corporate headquarters for the Family Circle Cup. The FCTC was built with public help at a cost of $15 million.

2012: Young ladies looking good at the players party on Sunday night in Charleston included 2004 Charleston champion Venus Williams, Vera Dushevina, Galina Voskoboeva, 2009 tourney champ Sabine Lisicki, 2007 champ Jelena Jankovic, 2-time finalist Vera Zvonareva and 2008 Charleston champ Serena Williams...

Charleston, 1st Round, Mon-Tue 10am
loser's prize: $2,075 US; points: 1
n27 s10 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d n258 q Melanie Oudin USA 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 Mon

Melanie and Anabel driving backhands

*n65 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d n32 s11 Christina McHale USA 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 Mon

Christina and Aleksandra driving forehand and backhand

n33 s12 Yanina Wickmayer BEL d n54 Vania King USA 6-4, 6-3 Tue
n35 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d n139 q Mariana Duque Marino COL 6-1, 6-2 Tue
n38 s14 Polona Hercog SLO d n78 Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN 6-4, 6-3 Mon
*n117 q Paula Ormaechea ARG d n42 s15 Chanelle Scheepers RSA 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 Mon
*n125 q Stefanie Voegele SUI d n45 s16 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Mon
*n134 wc Venus Williams USA d n47 q Iveta Benesova CZE 6-4, 6-3 Tue

Venus after match point

Venus said: "My serve felt great. I was still adjusting to the surface. Every clay court plays differently, the stadium can play different from the grandstand, I hadn't played on stadium yet, and you don't really slide a lot on that court anyway, so I was just getting the feel of the footing. But it was a good start." WTA story

n49 s17 Marina Erakovic NZL d n122 q Karolina Pliskova CZE 6-2, 6-4 Tue
n51 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ d n119 Jelena Dokic AUS 4-3 retired—right wrist injury Mon
n53 Elena Vesnina RUS d n89 Stephanie Dubois CAN 7-6(10), 7-5 Mon
n59 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d n147 q Camila Giorgi ITA 6-1, 6-3 Mon
n67 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d n113 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 6-3, 6-4 Mon
n68 Lucie Hradecka CZE d n98 Urszula Radwanska POL 6-1, 6-4 Mon
n75 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR d n84 Olga Govortsova BLR 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 Mon
n76 Varvara Lepchenko USA d n79 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 Tue
n77 Anna Tatishvili GEO d n105 Arantxa Rus NED 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 Tue
n82 Vera Dushevina RUS d n132 LL Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-4, 7-6(5) Mon
*n148 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d n83 Alexandra Panova RUS 6-0, 6-4 Tue
n85 wc Jamie Hampton USA d n90 Sloane Stephens USA 7-5, 7-6(1) Mon
*n118 q Mirjana Lucic CRO d n91 Mandy Minella LUX 7-5, 7-5 Mon
*n126 q Andrea Hlavackova CZE d n95 wc Irina Falconi USA 6-1, 7-5 Mon
n99 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d n123 q Melinda Czink HUN 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 Mon
*n137 q Jill Craybas USA d n116 q Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 7-6(2), 7-6(6) Tue

Charleston, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 10am Tue WTA story - Wed WTA story 1 - 2
loser's prize: $4,100 US; points: 40
n5 s2 Samantha Stosur AUS d n85 wc Jamie Hampton USA 6-0, 7-5 Tue

Samantha said: "Today I lost serve for the first time when I was serving for the match, but [Jamie] played some good points. She probably felt she had nothing to lose and went for it more. But from 5-all I played two good games."

n7 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA d n82 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-2, 6(3)-7, 6-4 Wed

Vera and Marion driving backhand and forehand

The match took over three hours. Marion said: "The first game was 22 minutes long I think, so that set up the tone. The last two years I lost first round here, and I didn't want to lose again, so I really tried my hardest. I didn't play my best, but I just kept fighting and kept fighting and was able to win."

n9 s4 Vera Zvonareva RUS d n75 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 6-1, 6-1 Tue
n11 s5 Serena Williams USA d n53 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-3, 6-4 Tue

Elena driving a forehand, and Serena running one down

Serena struck 11 aces, with 3 double faults; Elena, 3 aces, 3 DFs.

It was Serena's first match on a clay court since Roland Garros in 2010. Serena said: "I forgot I hadn't played on clay in so long, but that's so true. I really love the clay. I feel like it suits my game. I don't have to go crazy and move my feet so much. And it's no different from hard or grass—I should be able to play the same and do the same, if not better, because I have more time."

2011 Charleston finalist Elena tweeted: "Lost to Serena, got some big aces on the key moments. It was good match and great experience to play against her. Support was just amazing :) And nice feelings to be back on center court at night! Stadium was packed!" Elena Vesnina at Twitter

n13 s6 Sabine Lisicki GER d n126 q Andrea Hlavackova CZE 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wed

Sabine and Andrea following backhands

*n134 wc Venus Williams USA d n15 s7 Jelena Jankovic SRB 7-5, 6-0 Wed

Jelena and Venus driving forehand and backhand

Venus said: "I hadn't played [Jelena] in a long time, so in the first set I was just finding my rhythm and getting used to any new patterns she might have.
"In the second set everything started landing for me. I was moving forward and playing my aggressive game. Honestly, I don't know how it went that nicely for me. Everything just landed, and she hit a few errors, and that helped me a lot."

Jelena has lost four matches in a row. Jelena said: "My level of play wasn't at a high level today. Against Venus you have to serve well. I have to work on that shot. I have to work on a lot of things, but it's just the beginning of the clay season, so hopefully it'll get better.
"I'm in negotiations to find a coach, to get a coach, and I really want to because it's difficult like this, not having anyone, especially when I have to work on some technical things and get the shots right on track. It's little things here and there that make a big difference, and it's important to have someone to help you."

n21 s8 wc Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS d n67 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Tue
n25 s9 Lucie Safarova CZE d n118 q Mirjana Lucic CRO 6-2, 6-0 Wed
*n99 Anastasia Rodionova AUS d n27 s10 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 7-5, 6-3 Tue
*n148 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d n33 s12 Yanina Wickmayer BEL 6-2, 7-6(2) Wed

Yaroslava said: "In the first set I was more solid than [Yanina]—I was getting to all the balls and playing sharp, forcing her to miss. The second set was a bit harder. I had match point on my serve at 6-5 but she returned very easily and I was a little surprised, so I missed the next shot. But in the tie-break I played very solid and didn't make mistakes. I was fired up and played aggressively."

n35 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d n137 q Jill Craybas USA 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 Wed

Nadia driving a backhand

Nadia said: "Compared to my previous match in the first round I didn't play as well, but I have to give credit to Jill, she played very well today. She wasn't making any errors from her side, so I had to take control of the match, and I think I made too many errors."

n38 s14 Polona Hercog SLO d n76 Varvara Lepchenko USA 6-3, 6-2 Wed
n49 s17 Marina Erakovic NZL d n77 Anna Tatishvili GEO 7-5, 6-3 Wed
n51 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ d n117 q Paula Ormaechea ARG 6-2, 6-3 Wed

Galina about to swat a backhand

*n65 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN d n59 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 7-6(5), 6-3 Wed
*n125 q Stefanie Voegele SUI d n68 Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-4, 6-4 Wed

Stefanie serving

Charleston, 3rd Round, Thu 11am ESPN2-TV & Eurosport
loser's prize: $8,110 US; points: 60
n5 s2 Samantha Stosur AUS d n51 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Thu-rain-Fri

Galina driving a forehand, and Samantha volleying a backhand

*n38 s14 Polona Hercog SLO d n7 s3 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 1-6, 6-4

Polona and Marion driving forehand and backhand

n9 s4 Vera Zvonareva RUS d n125 q Stefanie Voegele SUI 5-7, 7-3, 6-4
n11 s5 Serena Williams USA d n49 s17 Marina Erakovic NZL 6-2, 6-2

Serena and Marina driving forehands, and Serena driving a backhand

n13 s6 Sabine Lisicki GER d n148 q Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ 7-5, 6-4

Sabine after match point

*n35 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS d n21 s8 wc Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-1, 6-4

Nadia driving a backhand

n25 s9 Lucie Safarova CZE d n65 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 6-2, 6(4)-7, 6-1

Aleksandra ready to swat a backhand, and Lucie driving a forehand

*n134 wc Venus Williams USA d n99 Anastasia Rodionova AUS 7-5, 6-2

Anastasia and Venus driving forehand and backhand

Charleston, QFs, Fri 1pm ESPN2-TV & Eurosport
loser's prize: $15,500 US; points: 120
n5 s2 Samantha Stosur AUS d n134 wc Venus Williams USA 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Samantha serving, and Venus driving a backhand

*n25 s9 Lucie Safarova CZE d n9 s4 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-3, 6-3

Vera driving a backhand, Lucie ready to fire a forehand, and after match point

n11 s5 Serena Williams USA d n13 s6 Sabine Lisicki GER 4-1 retired—left ankle injury

Serena reaching for a backhand, Sabine after rolling her ankle, and Serena consoling Sabine after she could not continue

*n38 s14 Polona Hercog SLO d n35 s13 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-1, 6-2

Charleston, SFs, Sat 1pm ESPN2-TV & Eurosport
loser's prize: $30,000 US; points: 200
*n11 s5 Serena Williams USA d n5 s2 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-1, 6-1

Serena serving, and Samantha and Serena driving forehands

The match took only 59 minutes. Serena scored 58 points, and scored on 5 of the 7 break points she reached against Samantha; Sam scored only 32 points, and could not convert either of the two break points she reached against Serena.

After the match, Serena, laughing, said she was playing so well that she could have beaten Andy Roddick.

Serena also said: "This is probably the best match I've played in my career, either in a long time, or it's up there in the top five." Post & Courier story

Serena played only 5 games on Friday, due to the injury retirement of Sabine Lisicki. Samantha played 49 games on Friday, due to rain on Thursday night.

Samantha, however, was not fatigued from Friday's play. Samantha said: "I actually felt pretty good out there. My body, I wasn’t aching or really all that tired, to be honest with you. So unfortunately, I can’t use that as an excuse."

n25 s9 Lucie Safarova CZE d n38 s14 Polona Hercog SLO 6-0, 6-0

Polona about to swat a forehand, Lucie driving a backhand, and after match point

Charleston, Final, Sun 1pm ESPN2-TV & Eurosport
loser's prize: $59,000 US; points: 320
winner's prize: $115,000 US; points: 470
n11 s5 Serena Williams USA d n25 s9 Lucie Safarova CZE 6-0, 6-1

Lucie driving a backhand, Serena driving a forehand, and after match point

Charleston, Doubles Final, Sun after singles & rest
losers' prize: $19,500 US
winners' prize: $37,000 US
Lucie Safarova & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d Anabel Medina Garrigues & Yaroslava Shvedova 5-7, 6-4, (10-6)

Charleston, Qual Finals, Sun Apr 1 10am
losers' prizes: q1 $570 1pt; q2 $1,150 8pts; qualifier 12 points
n47 Iveta Benesova CZE d n143 Kristyna Pliskova CZE 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
n116 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB d n1179 Vladimira Uhlirova CZE 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
n117 Paula Ormaechea ARG d n446 Shelby Rogers USA 7-5, 6-3
n118 Mirjana Lucic CRO d n140 Estrella Cabeza Candela ESP 6-2, 6-2
n122 Karolina Pliskova CZE d n144 Michelle Larcher de Brito POR 6-4, 6-2
n123 Melinda Czink HUN d n169 Coco Vandeweghe USA 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
n125 Stefanie Voegele SUI d n142 Caroline Garcia FRA 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
*n148 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ d n126 Andrea Hlavackova CZE 7-6(5), 7-5
*n147 Camila Giorgi ITA d n132 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6(5)-7, 7-5, 6-3
n137 Jill Craybas USA d n184 Madison Brengle USA 6-3, 6-1
n139 Mariana Duque Marino COL d n166 Marta Domachowska POL 6-4, 6-3
*n258 Melanie Oudin USA d n155 Petra Rampre SLO 6-3, 6-2

Charleston, Withdrawals:
n4 s1 Agnieszka Radwanska POL back injury
n17 Julia Goerges GER illness
n23 Shuai Peng CHN right shoulder injury
n31 Jie Zheng CHN low back injury
n44 Irina-Camelia Begu ROU right elbow injury
n52 Tamira Paszek AUT low back injury
n70 Greta Arn HUN neck injury
n71 Michaella Krajicek NED right knee injury
n73 Ayumi Morita JPN right shoulder injury
n86 Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA left hip injury
n397 sr Anna Chakvetadze RUS back injury

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2012 Charleston WTA Singles Results

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WTA Apr 2-8: Charleston