Kuznetsova Eases By Safina To Take Title

STUTTGART, Germany -- Svetlana Kuznetsova upset top-ranked Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Porsche Grand Prix and capture her first WTA title since September 2007.

It was Safina's first tournament since becoming No. 1 two weeks ago.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion now ranked No. 9, was in command in the all-Russian showdown with an aggressive, big-hitting game, winning on her third match point with an overhead smash.

She had lost her last six finals and had not made any this year before Stuttgart.

"It's been a while. It's great to be here and win," Kuznetsova said before taking a spin on the court in a white Porsche convertible that she won as first prize. "It was a bit scary but I will definitely keep it. It's special."

Kuznetsova won at Stuttgart in her fifth try.

Safina, the Australian Open runner-up, dropped her serve in the final game of the first set. Kuznetsova set it up with a perfect return down the line and Safina then put a backhand into the net.

She had two chances to break Kuznetsova's serve in the third game of the second, but Kuznetsova held. Kuznetsova never looked back after taking a 4-2 lead.

Safina saved one match point at 5-3 and one more in the next game, but Kuznetsova had too much fire power.

"She played very well and I didn't feel very well today," Safina said. "But I am still No. 1."

The Stuttgart tournament used to be played on a hard surface, but has become the first indoor event on clay on the circuit.

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WTA Tour Porsche Tennis Grand Prix : First Round Result

Here are the results of the 1st round of WTA Tour Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Women's Single) held at Stuttgart, Germany:

Carla Suarez - Navarro	vs.	(4) Victoria Azarenka
1		6
4		6
(7) Caroline Wozniacki	vs	Iveta Benesova
6		3
7		5
(1) Dinara Safina	vs	Sara Errani
6		0
6		1
Agnes Szavay	vs	Ai Sugiyanna
6		3
2		6
7		6

Aleksandra Wozniak	vs	(8) Agnieszka Radwanska
6		7
0		6
Anna-Lena Groenefeld	vs	(2) Elena Dementieva
4		6
6		3
3		6
Marion Bartoli	vs	Karolina Sprem
6		3
2		6
6		1
Alberta Brianti	vs	Tzvetana Pironkoa
6		0
4		6
4		6

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Sabine Lisicki Wins Family Circle Cup For First WTA Title

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Sabine Lisicki jumped in the air, then fell on her back on the green clay to celebrate winning her first tour title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday in the Family Circle Cup.

As she did to opponents all week, the 19-year-old Lisicki overpowered Wozniacki with her serve, often launching serves of over 120 mph as she scattered nine aces during the match. The last came on a 122 mph serve that gave her the advantage in the final game.

Lisicki, the 16th seed who beat second-seed Venus Williams in the third round, began her celebration after the next point when Wozniacki couldn't get a backhand on a ball at the baseline.

"I couldn't believe that I won, because I didn't use my match points," Lisicki said. "Then I finally won. I don't know which match point it was -- seventh, eighth -- it felt like 30th. But I was just so happy I won."

"I knew that she was going to be a little bit nervous. I knew that she was maybe going to have some trouble closing it out," Wozniacki said. "She came up with some good serves."

In reality, Wozniacki, of Denmark, fought off five match points in that final game before Lisicki prevailed.

During that final game, which went to deuce five times, Lisicki had two serves of 122 mph as well as a 120-mph serve.

"She's a player that can play really well, hit the ball really hard and, yeah, if it goes in, it's really tough," Wozniacki said.

Lisicki won $188,000 and a crystal cup for her first tour victory. She also becomes the first player to win the Family Circle Cup who has never won a tournament title previously. Ranked No. 63, she is expected to climb to No. 43 with the victory.

"I told my mom before the tournament that I really want to play Venus and that I think I have the game to beat her," Lisicki said. "So when I got into the match against Venus, I really thought I could win and then I just kept rolling."

Wozniacki, 18, ranked No. 12 and seeded fifth, was looking for her second straight tour victory after winning last week on clay at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. She eliminated top seed Elena Dementieva in a semifinal match that lasted almost three hours on Saturday and said she felt tired going into the finals.

"I don't think it was from yesterday. I just think it's in general, you know, from playing a lot of matches," she said. "I started feeling it a little bit today but she also didn't give me a chance to come back in the match."

But Wozniacki was pleased after winning at Ponte Vedra Beach and making the Charleston final.

"I thought clay was the surface I liked the least. But after these two weeks I really proved myself wrong," she said.

The players are 1-1 in two meetings. Wozniacki won in three sets at last year's Australian Open.

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Caroline Woznizcki Defeated Elena Dementieva In Family Circle Semifinal

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the finals of the Family Circle Cup on Saturday, fighting off a furious rally by Elena Dementieva to defeat the tournament's top seed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

Wozniacki now meets 16th-seeded Sabine Lisicki, who, after ousting Venus Williams earlier in the week, easily defeated sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Dementieva, ranked No. 3, saved three match points in the second set to force a third in a match that lasted almost three hours on the green clay.

Wozniacki, seeded fifth, was up 5-2 in the second set, serving for the match, when Dementieva broke her at love.

Dementieva then won her next service game, fighting off three match points, and the following three games to force the third set. When she evened the set at 5-5, Wozniacki threw her racket on the court in disgust.

But Wozniacki, an 18-year-old Dane ranked No. 12, prevailed on her fifth match point. Wozniacki is looking for her second straight tour victory after winning last week on clay at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Wozniacki said she was thinking too much about a victory when Dementieva staged her second-set rally.

"I knew I had to close it out and, you know, I was a little bit nervous," she said. "She started to play some really good tennis, aggressive and doesn't make so many errors, and, you know, she wins the set and I'm not so happy about that."

She said she hoped she would not be tired going into the final.

"It hasn't been a factor until now, and I've played quite a lot of matches, so I hope I can pull the last one through," she said.

But it could be a factor in Sunday's final, as Lisicki, the No. 63-ranked German with the blazing serve -- she had one of 125 mph Saturday -- needed only about an hour to defeat Bartoli.

"I don't really care about that. It's a final and, you know, I'm sure everybody wants to win, so we'll both go out there and fight," said Lisicki, who is looking for her first tour title.

The only meeting between Lisicki and Wozniacki was last year at the Australian Open, when Wozniacki won in three sets.

"It was more than a year ago that we played, and I think we have both gotten much better," Lisicki said.

Dementieva said she couldn't overcome a slow start against Wozniacki after she fell behind 5-2 in the first set.

"I just saw too many mistakes in the beginning of the match," she said. "So for me to come back just took a lot of energy, and I wish I had a better start and so it would have been a different game.

"Dementieva has appeared seven times in Charleston but never won. It was the second straight year she was in the semifinals. She made the finals four years ago.

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Sabine Lisicki beats Venus Williams In Family Circle Cup

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Second-seeded Venus Williams was upset in the third round of the Family Circle Cup on Thursday, falling to 63rd-ranked Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a startling early exit that took even Williams by surprise.

"I wasn't expecting that and, you know, I'll try to come back next year and win," she said. "I made a few errors at the wrong time and she played some great shots."

It was the first time Williams had faced Lisicki, the German with the big serve seeded 16th this week. Lisicki consistently sent serves of over 110 mph toward Williams on the green clay of stadium court at Family Circle Tennis Center. Her serve of 123.1 mph at the Australian Open is the second-fastest on the women's tour this year.

"I'm confident with my serve," Lisicki said. "Sometimes I'm struggling, but you know, in the important points I could really count on my serve, which was very good."

At the end of the match, Lisicki buried her face in her towel and was asked later whether she was laughing, crying or simply wiping her face.

"Everything together. It was just pure emotions," she said, calling it one of the biggest wins of her career.

A day earlier, it took Williams almost 2½ hours to eliminate Sania Mirza, ranked No. 100. But Williams said she didn't feel tired going into the third round.

"It was a long match, but that's tennis. You come back and play the next day. So I am prepared to do that," she said.

Another American also fell in the third round. Qualifier Melanie Oudin gamely battled third-seeded Marion Bartoli, ranked No. 13, before falling 6-4, 6-1. The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., led 4-2 in the first set but could win only one more game in the match.

"I had a lead and then the whole thing was 'Oh my gosh, I'm actually beating someone who's 13 in the world,' and that got in my head a little bit," said Oudin, ranked No. 172. "It was a good match. I fought hard and I made her work for it and that was my goal out there."

Top-seed Elena Dementieva, ranked No. 3, defeated Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 6-1 and faces seventh-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3 winner Thursday over Anastasia Rodionova, in Friday's quarterfinals.

Dementieva was asked later about Williams' loss.

"What can I say? The competition is pretty rough," she said. "You have to be ready from the first round because it's not going to be easy now, especially playing on clay court."

Fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki defeated Shuai Peng 6-3, 6-4 and meets Virginie Razzano.

The 13th-seeded Razzano advanced when No. 3 seed Vera Zvonareva retired after injuring her ankle in their evening match. It was 1-1 in the first set when Zvonareva, ranked No. 6 in the world, tumbled while chasing down a ball along the baseline.

She cried in pain and lay on the court for about five minutes while clutching her right ankle. She was helped to her seat on court where the ankle was wrapped and ice applied. A golf cart then took her out of the stadium.

On the other side of the draw, Lisicki faces Elena Vesnina, a 7-6 (4), 7-5 winner over Viktoriya Kutuzova, in Friday's quarterfinals. Bartoli plays unseeded Melinda Czink, who upset fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

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