Defending champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Family Circle Cup because of a left leg injury.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

World No.8 Victoria Azarenka, champion at last week’s Sony Ericsson Open, has withdrawn from the April 11-19 Family Circle Cup due to a shoulder injury.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

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)

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.

Ninth seed Vera Zvonareva retired from the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup at the moment fellow Russian Dinara Safina, seeded four, lead 6-3, 0-1. Zvonareva had to give up the match due to wrist injury. Actually, both players had problems with wrists which forced them to withdraw from their doubles matches, so that they could focus on the singles.

Dinara Safina, ranked No. 12, meets world No. 9 Jelena Jankovic in the final of Charleston. Earlier today, Jankovic defeated Venus Williams 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

So far, Safina and Jankovic have played only once, in Paris, on hardcourt; Jankovic retired from the match, and Safina won 6-3, 0-1.

What a match! Two hours and thirty minutes of uncertainty! Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic both played very well at the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup, but somebody had to come out as a winner, and it was a player from Serbia. Jankovic overwhelmed Williams 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). A five-time Grand Slam champion won the first set 6-3. The second set was particularly interesting — first six games were all breaks. The one to end that series was second seed Jelena Jankovic who managed to take the lead, and eventually win the second set. However, the third set was also thrilling, especially the tie break. The tension was great. Jelena's match point added even more nervousness — it was debatable whether it was out or not.

I can mention that this is the second time Jelena wins the tie break when she plays Venus; last time it was at Wimbledon when she won 10-8.

Both Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams will be ranked higher on Monday. Jelena, world No. 9, will be ranked No. 7; Venus, who is currently world No. 29, will jump to No. 22.

Jankovic's opponent in the final will be a Russian player, either ninth seed Vera Zvonareva or fourth seed Dinara Safina whose match is currently in progress.

Unseeded Venus Williams upset Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 7-5 to reach the final four of the Family Circle Cup. There, she will meet second seed Jelena Jankovic who defeated Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 6-0. Soon, we will know the names of the other two players who will meet in the semifinals of this $1,3 million tournament.

Serena's injury forced her to pull out of her second-round match with Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan. At the moment she gave up, she was leading 5-3.

"I've been playing a lot on the clay. I was just sliding a lot and I think I just slid too far," Serena said after the match.

Now it's certain that we won't have the pleasure of watching a clash between the Williams sisters in Charleston, even though it was likely that they would meet in the third round. Their last encounter was at the 2005 US Open.

(via BBC Sport)

After losing to Serena Williams in Miami final, Henin announced that she won't play in Charleston (which starts on April 9). She wants to go home and rest in order to prepare for the clay-season. She needs some treatment to fight her respiratory problems. Warsaw (April 30) will be her next tournament.