The Hindu : Sport : Lisicki wins Family Circle Cup

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Lisicki wins Family Circle Cup

— PHOTO: AP

BREAKING THROUGH: Sabine Lisicki won her first career title in the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

CHARLESTON: German 16th seed Sabine Lisicki clinched her first career title on Sunday with her big serve, high-tempo game giving her a 6-2, 6-4 win over Danish fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Family Circle Cup.

Lisicki had knocked out Venus Williams in the third round and the 19-year-old proved it was no fluke with a deserved victory in the one million dollar tournament over her 18-year-old opponent who had taken the Ponte Vedra Beach claycourt trophy last weekend.

Nervy

The German had lost her only previous final, in Tashkent last year, and she showed some signs of nerves on Sunday as she tried to close out the final needing six match points before she could celebrate victory.

“I really couldn’t believe I won, because I didn’t use my first match points. When I finally won — I don’t know which match point it was, seventh, eighth, it felt like 30th — I was so happy,” Lisicki said.

“I’ve worked so hard the last couple of weeks and months, and it’s finally paying off,” she added.

“I knew I had the game to beat those players, and now I think I’m more mature to win the whole tournament.”

Wozniacki, who needed nearly three hours to defeat top-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva in the semifinals, looked like she was feeling the after-effects on Sunday.

“I wasn’t moving well today like I have been in other tournaments, but Sabine was playing really well, attacking and not making a lot of errors,” she said. “Sabine played really well. Congratulations to her.”

After beating Venus with an impressive display of big serves and bigger groundstrokes, Lisicki encountered little resistance in her next two matches.

She beat Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the semifinals.

Lisicki’s booming serve was in evidence again on Sunday, when she notched up eight aces against Wozniacki.

She is expected to move up to 47 in the world from her current spot of 63 when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday.

The results: At Charleston (Family Circle Cup): Final: Sabine Lisicki bt Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4.

At Barcelona (Barcelona Open): First round: Nicolas Almagro bt Victor Hanescu 3-6, 7-6(7); Igor Andreev bt Andreas Seppi 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Christophe Rochus bt Nicolas Devilder 6-4, 6-4; Janko Tipsarevic bt Albert Montanes 6-4, 7-6(1); Jose Acasuso bt Dudi Sela 6-4, 7-5; Alberto Martin bt Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-4; Santiago Ventura bt Marcel Granollers 7-6(3), 6-3; Potito Starace bt Ernest Gulbis 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. — Agencies

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