Serena Wins 2012 Family Circle Cup
Serena Williams defeated Lucie Safarova 6-0, 6-1 to capture the 2012 Family Circle Cup on Sunday in Charleston, S.C. This is her 40th WTA title and first on clay since she captured the same championship back in 2008. Williams did not even expect to show such a strong comeback on clay; however, this shows how well she deals with everything on and off the tennis courts.
“I’m just trying to keep my mind busy,” Williams said. “I’m doing so much it keeps me staying in the moment.” Williams has dominated this past week with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat over Samantha Stosur, the currently fifth-ranked player, and routed Safarova in the semifinals.
Williams said she had some not so stellar practices this week because she saved her best for when it counted most. “I’ve never played, I can say, consistently at such a high level with low errors” the last two matches, Williams said.
Williams was dominant with her serves this week. She wasn’t broken in the final four of her matches and went 25-0 in all her service games. The closest Safarova even came was in the first set where she couldn’t hold onto any break points in both the third and fifth games.
Williams was able to wrap up the match with a 107-mph ace which was her fifth of the match and gained a long ovation from the crowd. "She was amazing. She deserves to be the champion," said Safarova, who fell to 0-5 overall against Williams.
Safarova won’t go home a loser though, she was able to alongside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, take the doubles title over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova in a third-set tiebreaker. ‘It’s been a wonderful and fun week," said Safarova.
Williams has won her 40th title and is just one move away from Kim Clijsters among the remaining active players on the career listing. Venus Williams is the leader with 43 championships. Williams had just one day after the Sony Ericsson Open to prepare for the slower clay at the Family Circle Tennis Center. Williams played some of her best tennis this past weekend. “I really feel like, hopefully, I’ll remember this so I can play like this more often,” Williams said.
Williams gracefully honored the 40th anniversary of the Family Circle tournament and the overall legacy of women’s tennis. Williams earned $115,000 for her victory, which is a far leap from the overall $100,000 in prize money for the entire tournament in 1973.
