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Jankovic wins Family Circle Cup
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia won the biggest match of her career battling a swirling wind to defeat Dinara Safina of Russia 6-2, 6-2 for Family Circle Cup.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: April 17, 2007 04:57 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Charleston, South Carolina:
It was the first WTA Tour Tier I final and victory for Jankovic, who was seeded second here and will improve to No 7 in the rankings.
"The wind was so strong and the balls were going all over the place," Jankovic said as the winds rattled the media tent. "Is it safe in here?"
Fourth-seeded Safina had never played in such conditions.
"It was so windy that it was tough to play our game," Safina agreed. "It was going everywhere. It was difficult to serve, like you're tossing the ball, and the ball just goes ... flying in front or like, wherever."
Jankovic won her third career championship and second this year, beside Auckland, New Zealand.
"I'm so happy I won this title," Jankovic said. "I had an awesome week here, especially playing yesterday, beating Venus (Williams). Today in the final was a little bit different story because of the weather."
Safina, who improved to No 10 by making the final, got to the championship without dropping a set during the tournament.
Her semifinal opponent, Vera Zvonareva, retired on Saturday with an injured wrist. Safina's opponent in Friday's quarterfinals, Tatiana Golovin, retired at the end of the first set with an injured ankle. It was the second Tier I final for Safina, who lost to Martina Hingis in the final at Rome last year.
"No one really loved it but, well, that's the rules," Safina said of playing in the wind. "We have to play with the wind, so it's a mental game. So maybe I have to get better in the mental."
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia won the biggest match of her career battling a swirling wind to defeat Dinara Safina of Russia 6-2, 6-2 for the Family Circle Cup on Sunday.It was the first WTA Tour Tier I final and victory for Jankovic, who was seeded second here and will improve to No 7 in the rankings.
"The wind was so strong and the balls were going all over the place," Jankovic said as the winds rattled the media tent. "Is it safe in here?"
Fourth-seeded Safina had never played in such conditions.
"It was so windy that it was tough to play our game," Safina agreed. "It was going everywhere. It was difficult to serve, like you're tossing the ball, and the ball just goes ... flying in front or like, wherever."
Jankovic won her third career championship and second this year, beside Auckland, New Zealand.
"I'm so happy I won this title," Jankovic said. "I had an awesome week here, especially playing yesterday, beating Venus (Williams). Today in the final was a little bit different story because of the weather."
Safina, who improved to No 10 by making the final, got to the championship without dropping a set during the tournament.
Her semifinal opponent, Vera Zvonareva, retired on Saturday with an injured wrist. Safina's opponent in Friday's quarterfinals, Tatiana Golovin, retired at the end of the first set with an injured ankle. It was the second Tier I final for Safina, who lost to Martina Hingis in the final at Rome last year.
"No one really loved it but, well, that's the rules," Safina said of playing in the wind. "We have to play with the wind, so it's a mental game. So maybe I have to get better in the mental."
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Andy Roddick Lukas Dlouhy Rohan Bopanna Leander Paes Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Maria Sharapova
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