Serena Williams hunts down Jelena Jankovic to win the title – Family Circle Cup 2013
Reigning world number one, Serena Williams, continued with her destructive run of form this season and bagged her 49th career title by winning the final of Family Circle Cup on Sunday. The top seeded American came from
a set’s deficit to turn the tables on the former world number one, Jelena Jankovic, to claim her third WTA championship title of the running season. She bagged the three-setter at 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, to successfully defend her Charleston crown.
The 31-year-old American veteran was already rated as the hot favourite in the Sunday’s final but an early set loss surprised everyone. Jankovic was off to a flyer in the opening set and quickly gained control of the momentum by
breaking the American serve in the fifth game to impose a 4-2 lead. Williams could hold just one more serve before another cracking break point conversion from the Serbian contender sealed the first set at 6-3.
Williams shifted her gears in the following set and came out firing at Jankovic. She nailed three successive serve breaks and rocketed away to 6-0 in no time.
With the contest levelled at one set apiece, the decisive set was anticipated to be a thriller. However, it turned out to be the other way round, with Williams displaying her domination all the way to a convincing victory. She
broke Jankovic in the third game and then carried on with her winning impetus to sting another serve break in the seventh game to reach 5-2. She closed out the her title victory at 6-2.
"I was just trying to be more consistent," Williams said. "I felt so close in that first set. I felt like I could have been up 3-0. She was playing really, really well, but it was just a shot here, a shot there, and she played
really well in the big points. And I had so many opportunities that I missed. She took advantage of all of that, and she went on to glory in that first set. After that I just got really relaxed and was like, 'Serena, you have to chill out and not get crazy
and if you win, great. If not, you're trying. She's playing really well. Just try and do the best you can.'"
On the other hand, the tandem of Kristina Mladenovic and Lucie Safarova outplayed the top seeded duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Liezel Huber to take the doubles title at Family Circle Cup.
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