Start of doubles title match pushed back
Elena Vesnina's versatility has forced the Family Circle Cup to alter its schedule, pushing the doubles final behind the 1 p.m. singles final instead of the originally scheduled 11 a.m. start today.
Gates will open at 9 a.m., as previously announced.
Vesnina and Sania Mirza defeated Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie, 6-2, 7-5, in a doubles semifinal Saturday to earn a doubles final match with American duo Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy. The unseeded Russian reached the singles final against top seed Caroline Wozniacki with a semifinal upset of Peng.
Vesnina the underdog
One stat says a lot about today's Family Circle Cup final.
Vesnina will be trying to win her first WTA Tour singles title. World No. 1 Wozniacki will be going after her 15th championship.
There's no doubt about the underdog in a match pitting the 56th-ranked Vesnina against Wozniacki.
"She's No. 1 in the world, and she's playing, I mean, really well," Vesnina said after her semifinal win over Peng. "She's a great player, a really sweet girl, and I've played against her a few times."
The 24-year-old Vesnina, from Sochi, Russia, is actually 1-4 in her career against the 20-year-old Wozniacki., the lone win coming in 2009 on hard courts. But Vesnina has taken Wozniacki to three sets two other times, both matches on clay at Ponte Vedra Beach in 2009 and 2010. In one of those meetings, Vesnina had four match points.
"I know her game pretty well," Vesnina said. "It just depends on how I feel, how Caroline will play. Definitely, I'm going to think (Saturday night) about my game plan."
Wozniacki is 14-9 in singles finals; Vesnina is 0-4.
Top secret
Jelena Jankovic was reluctant to divulge her strategy against Wozniacki before Saturday's semifinal, and still would not talk about it after her 6-4, 6-4 loss.
"It doesn't make sense," she said with a laugh. "You guys write everything in the paper. So it's like I tell you, the whole world knows."
That's the idea, JJ.
Cupcake city
In her explorations of Charleston this week, WTA Tour player Lisa Raymond resisted one Lowcountry temptation, but gave in to another.
"Hard to stay away from the pralines but I've done a good job so far," Raymond wrote in her blog for the WTA Tour. " So while I have done well keeping away from the pralines, the same can't be said for the cupcakes!
"I found a great little cupcake bakery the other night called "Cupcake". Simple enough, eh? The Red Velvet flavor is without a doubt in the Top 5 of all cupcakes and I know cupcakes!! Of course I couldn't walk out of there with just one as I felt like he needed a friend named "Peanut Butter." Extra cardio for me this week!!!"
Belgium's best?
Yanina Wickmayer is poised to become the next great Belgian on the WTA Tour. The 21-year-old, ranked No. 23 in the world, had an impressive run in Charleston, losing to Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.
With Justine Henin in retirement and Kim Clijsters sidelined with a shoulder injury, will Wickmayer step up as her country's top player?
"I don't know," she said. "Justine had to quit suddenly. We were all pretty surprised. Kim, we never know how long she's going to keep playing. But I don't think that's going to change anything for me. My goals are going to stay the same and (I'm) going to do the same thing, so I don't think that's going to change anything for me."
Attendance
Saturday's daily attendance was 8,417. Figures for Saturday night were not available.
