Fri Apr 18 21:56:03 2008

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Serena tops Sharapova to reach Charleston semis; Jankovic falls

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Charleston, SC (Sports Network) - In a battle of former world No. 1s, American Serena Williams outlasted Russian Maria Sharapova in a three-set quarterfinal showdown Friday at the $1.34 million Family Circle Cup tennis event.

The fifth-seeded Williams improved to 5-2 lifetime against the second-seeded Sharapova with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 decision on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. Later action saw another upset, as Russian Vera Zvonareva knocked off top-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Jankovic, a native of Serbia, won last year's event by defeating another Russian, Dinara Safina, in the finale, but dropped the first set to Zvonareva and couldn't win after rallying to take the second set.

The 2003 Charleston runner-up Williams prevailed in 2 1/2 hours with the help of 11 aces and nine doubles faults from Sharapova. The American, who pulled away in the third set, also tallied two more service breaks (6-4) on Day 5 here.

The eight-time Grand Slam champion Williams has now won four straight against the three-time major titlist Sharapova, and this marked their first-ever meeting on clay, Sharapova's least-favorite surface.

Williams was the big winner at the so-called "Fifth Major" in Miami just two weeks ago.

Sharapova dropped to 24-2 this season, including three titles in five events. She captured her third career major title at the Australian Open back in January and was fresh off her clay-court championship last week at Amelia Island.

Williams' semifinal opponent on Saturday will be France's Alize Cornet, who upended 10th-seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay 7-5, 6-4. The upstart 18-year-old Cornet also reached the semis last week at Amelia Island.

Also a quarterfinal winner was fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, who will face Zvonereva after defeating 2002 and 2006 runner-up Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 6-4.

The 2008 Family Circle winner will earn $196,900.