Bartoli & Lisicki Battle Into Round of 16

Written by: Staff on 5th April 2012

Bartoli & Lisicki Battle Into Round of 16 |

(Courtesy of Family Circle Cup)

Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki won their opening matches at the Family Circle Cup on Wednesday afternoon, though one had to battle for over three hours and the other had to rally from a set down to stay alive.

Bartoli, seeded No.3 this week, probably knew it was going to be a long day after the opening game lasted more than 30 points, but she managed to make the cut, beating Vera Dushevina in a three-hour, four-minute marathon, 62 67(3) 64.

The No.6-seeded Lisicki was broken twice en route to losing the first set but broke once in each of the next two sets to drop some knowledge and get past Andrea Hlavackova, 26 63 64. Lisicki is one of six former Family Circle Cup champions in this year’s draw, winning the title in 2009 – it was her first WTA title at the time.

No.13 seed and 2006 Family Circle Cup champion Nadia Petrova also had a battle on her hands, having to save two match points to beat American Jill Craybas, 26 76(6) 62. No.14 seed Polona Hercog and No.17 seed Marina Erakovic won, but No.12 seed Yanina Wickmayer was upset, falling to Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.

The night match saw No.7 seed Jelena Jankovic play Venus Williams, not only a pair of former Family Circle Cup champions, but also former World No.1s.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Family Circle Cup, Jelena Jankovic, Marina Erakovic, Marion Bartoli, Nadia Petrova, Polona Hercog, Sabine Lisicki, Sports, Venus Williams, Vera Dushevina, Yanina Wickmayer