Semifinals Heat Up Charleston

Coverage

2010

Family Circle Cup

Sunday, 18 April 2010 07:06

Semifinals Heat Up Charleston

Written by Christina Ward

More Injuries. Do I Hear an Echo?

When Vera Zvonareva was serving at 4-2 in the first set in their semifinal match, Caroline Wozniacki injured her right ankle after running for a drop-shot. Wozniacki said, "When I fell, I could hear a snap, and, you know, it was painful, so I knew right away that something was wrong." After the trainer wrapped her ankle, she was able to finish the game but retired after attempting to serve at 5-2. Wozniacki said she would have an MRI on Sunday and added, "I wanted to see if it was possible [to continue playing], and I was surprised that I could stand on my leg, which was very positive, actually. But as soon as I was moving to the sides, it was impossible, so I couldn't play." The match probably felt like déjà vu to Zvonareva,who injured her own right ankle in the third round at the Family Circle Cup last year and had to retire18 minutes into the match against Virginie Razzano.

About the injuries on tour Zvonareva said, "You know, to me it feels definitely like more injuries are happening. Maybe because the game is a little bit more physical right now. Maybe scheduling, the schedule is very tough for players. You don't have many choices where there are a lot of mandatory events and you have to play certain weeks, and no matter how you feel, you gotta be out there and compete. Before, you could make a little bit better choices, and you know if your body is feeling tired, you can skip that week and go play another week... Sometimes you're forced to play a lot of events when you're tired, and that's when most of the injuries are coming, when your body is not fresh."

Allergic to Clay Finals

In the other singles semifinal, Daniela Hantuchova looked poised to take her match against Sam Stosur to a third set after leading 5-2 in the second set when she started playing more tentatively. Stosur took advantage by starting to play more aggressively and won, 6-3, 7-6(2). Hantuchova is now 0-3 in clay court semifinals. Despite her loss on Saturday, Hantuchova said, "Definitely there are a lot of positives I can take from this trip to the U.S. I had very good preparation last week, and just hope to keep going coming to Europe. This was probably one of my toughest surfaces to play on. The balls are very heavy and very slow, so hopefully it's going to get only better from now."

Daniela Hantuchova after her loss

Keeping Those Pesky Emotions in Check

Negative body language Friday did not help Jelena Jankovic in her quarterfinal match with Hantuchova, and, in contrast, Stosur said she was able to reign in her emotions when facing the Slovak. "I don't get too mad with myself for showing emotion like that as long as I can step up to the line the next point and play a good one and still be kind of in control of the way I'm playing, and maybe I didn't do that initially, but to be able to come back and really fix it up from 5-2, then that's pleasing."

Rankings Watch

Stosur will return to No. 10 in the world if she wins the tournament. Zvonareva is assured a return to the Top 20 since she reached the final and Hantuchova lost in the semifinal to Stosur.

A determined Stosur

Doubles Are Not Trouble

In the first match of the day, Vania King and Michaella Krajicek defeated Natalie Grandin and Abigail Spears, 6-4, 7-6(4). They will take on Leizel Huber and Nadia Petrova in the doubles final after the top-seeded pair defeated Ekaterina Makarova and Marie-Eve Pelletier, 6-2, 6-2. Petrova is looking for her second straight Family Circle Cup doubles title. She won last year with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Stosur, who reached the doubles final a few weeks ago in Indian Wells with Petrova, plans on partnering the Russian again during the year, "[Nadia and I are] going to play a few tournaments throughout the year, but I might have odd weeks like this where I choose just to play singles and work on that. Sometimes it's good just to play one event and you can rest your body a bit more leading into bigger events as well. But we're still going to play but maybe pick and choose which ones and just give it our best when we get out there."

Vania King in the doubles semifinal

Love for Charleston

The Family Circle Cup is a popular stop on the WTA tour. This is Zvonareva's eighth straight appearance at the tournament. Wozniacki showed appreciation for the event even after suffering her injury, "It's a nice tournament. It's a very homey atmosphere, and the crowd is always great here. It's just a nice place to be, a lot of great restaurants, good shopping, and it's just a nice place to be."

Looking Ahead to Sunday

Most likely, Sam Stosur likes her chances in her first final of the year. She has a 4-2 head-to-head advantage over Vera Zvonareva and has won their last four meetings, including a straight-set win in Indian Wells earlier this year.

More photos from the 2010 Family Circle Cup

Photos: Christina Ward