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.

Read more...

Family Circle Cup Women's Singles Results

April 16 - Family Circle Cup women's singles third round results from South Carolina, U.S. on Thursday (prefix denotes seeding, * denotes new result) * 13-Virginie Razzano (France) beat 3-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 1-1 (Zvonareva retired)

Elena Vesnina (Russia) beat Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukraine) 7-6(4) 7-5

Melinda Czink (Hungary) beat 4-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 3-6 6-4 7-5 1-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Varvara Lepchenko (U.S.) 6-1 6-1 5-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat 10-Peng Shuai (China) 6-3 6-4 16-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) beat 2-Venus Williams (U.S.) 6-4 7-6(5) 7-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) 6-7(6) 6-2 6-3 6-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Melanie Oudin (U.S.) 6-4 6-1

Read more...

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.

Read more...

Federer Marries Longtime Girlfriend

BASEL, Switzerland -- Roger Federer married longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in a small ceremony in his hometown Saturday.

The second-ranked tennis player announced the wedding on his Web site, saying the couple got married "surrounded by a small group of close friends and family."

"It was a beautiful spring day and an incredibly joyous occasion," he said.

The couple announced last month they are expecting their first child.

Federer is set to play in next week's Monte Carlo Masters after accepting a last-minute wild-card invitation Thursday. Federer is a three-time finalist at the clay-court tournament but has never won.

After struggling with his form last year and losing his No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal, Federer is aiming for his sixth Wimbledon title this summer. He lost to Nadal in the Australian Open final, the year's first major.

Read more...