Germany’s Sabine Lisicki beat fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4 in the final of the Family Circle Cup to claim her first career WTA title and cap the most unlikely run in the tournament history.

Lisicki, seeded 16th, won the title being ranked 63rd, and became the lowest-ranked player ever to win the Family Circle Cup. The 19-year-old Lisicki has climbed to No.43 after the victory.

Prior to upsetting No.2 seed Venus Williams in the third round and eventually winning the tournament in Charleston, Lisicki had been known for defeating Lindsay Davenport in the Fed Cup. (photo via Family Circle Cup)

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Defending champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Family Circle Cup because of a left leg injury.

The world No.1, soon to drop in the rankings, said she hurt her leg earlier this month at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in the final. Later she flew to Spain to play the Andalucia Tennis Experience, but was shocked in the first round affected by the injury.

By the way, Azarenka withdrew from Charleston too, while Serena’s older sister Venus and third-ranked Elena Dementieva are scheduled to compete at the Family Circle Cup. (via CBS Sports, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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World No.8 Victoria Azarenka, champion at last week’s Sony Ericsson Open, has withdrawn from the April 11-19 Family Circle Cup due to a shoulder injury.

Azarenka didn’t offer details on her right shoulder injury, but said she regrets having to skip the tournament.

"I was looking forward to returning to Charleston and building on the momentum that I have from the past few weeks. I am looking forward to returning to Charleston in 2010," said the 19-year-old Belorussian.

The tournament will feature other tennis stars such as world No.1 and defending champion Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva, Venus Williams, last year’s finalist Vera Zvonareva, and Nadia Petrova. (via On the Baseline, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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World No.14 Tatiana Golovin won’t be able to defend her title at Amelia Island, and will need to miss the Family Circle Cup in Charleston too. The reason is that earlier this month she had her left hip operated in order to remove a cyst.

Golovin has also skipped both the Pacific Life Open and the ongoing Sony Ericsson Open because of the surgery. (via Golovin’s Fan Page, photo via Getty Images)

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Second seed Jelena Jankovic beat fourth seed Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-2 in Sunday final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. This is the first Tier I final for Jankovic, and her biggest victory so far.

Strong wind made this match difficult for both players. "The wind was so strong and the balls were going all over the place," Jankovic said after the match. Her opponent agreed: "It was so windy that it was tough to play our game. 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."

The Serbian reached the final by defeating Venus Williams 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in a long and uncertain match. The Russian player had an easier way to the final; her semifinal opponent, Vera Zvonareva, retired because of wrist injury, while her opponent in the quarterfinal, Tatiana Golovin, withdraw at the end of the first set due to injured ankle.

Today, Both Jankovic and Safina jumped two spots at the WTA rankings. Jankovic was world No.9 and today she is No.7. One year younger Dinara Safina moved from No.12 to No.10.

(source: ESPN)

With this title Jankovic accompanies Serena Williams and Justine Henin as players who have won two titles in 2007. Serena won the Australian Open and the Sony Ericsson Open; Justine has titles from Dubai Duty Free Women's Open and Qatar Total Open. Jelena won Auckland in January and now she has Charleston trophy too.

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