Serena Advances to Family Circle Cup Quarterfinals
April 6, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
Fifth-seeded American Serena Williams defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to move closer to a meeting between her and her Sister Venus Williams at the 2012 Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. Serena served six aces and won 80 percent of all first serve points to advance onto the quarterfinals of the tournament. A semifinal showdown between the sisters may occur if both advance after Venus rallied to defeat Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.
"I hope we both get there," said Serena, who must get past big-hitting German Sabine Lisicki, the sixth seed, in the quarterfinals.
Lisicki fought back from down a break to defeat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 7-5, 6-4. This is the first time both Venus and Serena have made the quarterfinals in the same year out of the past three they have played. Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champ is ranked fifth and was left as the highest-ranked player in the field.
