TENNIS in DEPTH.

Caroline Wozniacki claimed her third title of the season on Sunday with a straight-sets triumph over Elena Vesnina in the final of the WTA Family Circle Cup in Charleston. The Dane overcame her unseeded Russian opponent 6-2 6-3 in South Carolina to add to her tournament victories in Dubai and at Indian Wells. Wozniacki, competing in her first claycourt event of the year, was dominant from the baseline and rarely gave Vesnina a look-in. The 20-year-old never looked back after an early break of serve gave her a 3-1 advantage in the opening set and then another break in game eight of the second set broke Vesnina’s resistance for good.

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Top seed Victoria Azarenka ended the run of Romanian qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu to win the final of the Andalucian Tennis Experience in Marbella. It was a second successive tournament victory for the Belarussian, who claimed last week’s Miami Open. Begu had never won a main-draw match on the WTA Tour before this event but beat second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday’s semi-final. But Azarenka, ranked sixth in the world, was too strong, winning 6-3 6-2. She broke Begu’s serve four times in the first set and three times in the second on her way to victory.

“It was unusual to go from Miami on hardcourts to here on clay and do so well. I’m more than pleased with the experience,” Azarenka said. “It was important just to keep my mind fresh and do the same things I did in Miami. I used to practice here when I was 14, so coming here brings me back – I love it here.”

Azarenka’s 11-match win streak moves her from No.6 to No.5,

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Ryan Sweeting reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final after he defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 41 minutes. World No. 93 Sweeting, who dropped one point on serve in the deciding set, converted five of seven break point opportunities overall to improve to an 8-6 match record on the season.

Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas advanced to his first semi-final since Moscow last October when he won his first meeting with doubles partner, Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3. Former World No. 14 Cuevas has slipped to No. 75 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings. He next plays Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori, a surprise 6-3, 6-2 winner over top-seeded American Mardy Fish. Fish, who won his lone ATP World Tour clay court title in Houston in 2006, hit just one ace and did not earn a break point on Nishikori’s serve. At No. 11 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, Fish would have broken into the Top 10 for the first time in his career had he won a second Houston title. Nishikori was appearing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final on clay.

“He didn’t give me too much and seemed pretty comfortable with his backhand,” Fish said. “I struggle at night; sometimes I feel I can’t necessarily do some of the things I want to do because I don’t have that split second to pick the ball up earlier than I normally do. I love to stay more agressive; standing 15-20 feet behind the baseline trying to stay in the points is not my game. [But tonight] that was strategic as I thought that was the best way to have a good clean hit on the ball… he seemd to enjoy that. On missing the chance to break into the Top 10, Fish said, “It’s disappointing, especially at a place like Houston where I have great memories. It would have been a nice place to do it, especially in the States. And being the No. 1 American is a responsibility each time you step on the court.”

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Dinara Safina suffered a recurrence of her long-term back problem as she withdrew from the Andalucia Tennis Experience. The Russian, 24, was trailing top seed Victoria Azarenka 5-1 in Marbella when she was forced to retire. Safina has been struggling with back problems since 2009 and has slipped to 81 in the world rankings. ”Just did MRI and CT scan, waiting for the result!”

Azarenka, who will meet Sara Errani in Saturday’s semi-finals after the Italian beat fourth seed Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2 6-2, said: “I feel bad winning in this way, above all against an opponent like Dinara. ”She has been suffering with her injuries for quite a while and I hope she recovers soon.”

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Top seed Mardy Fish breezed into the quarter-finals of the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston on a day when all the seeds in action won. Fish beat Albert Ramos 6-3 6-4, saving eight of nine break points in the match.

Third-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez topped Indian Somdev Devvarman 6-4 6-1 to seal his place, while Kei Nishikori, the sixth seed, beat Igor Andreev 6-3 6-3.

Wild-card James Blake saw his tournament ended with a 7-5 6-1 loss to number seven Pablo Cuevas.

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Caroline Wozniacki was expecting a challenge at the Family Circle Cup—and she got it Thursday from Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. The top-seeded Dane had to win two tiebreakers to defeat Zahlavova Strycova, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (9) in a stadium court match that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours. It looked nothing like the 56-minute, cakewalk Wozniacki enjoyed in Wednesday’s opening match. “I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. I’ve seen her before and played her last year here,” Wozniacki said. Although, it sure looked that way at first. Wozniacki led 4-1 in the opening set and appeared ready to quickly oust Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic.

Zahlavova Strycova held serve twice to force the tiebreaker. The 25-year-old fought back in that one, too. After trailing 5-1, she won five straight points to hold a set point of her own. But Zahlavova Strycova sent that chance long and netted the next two points to give Wozniacki the set. Zahlavova Strycova took a 2-0 lead into the second set. This time, it was Wozniacki’s turn to rally. She twice held serve with Zahlavova Strycova ahead to force a second tiebreaker for the thrilled fans at stadium court of the Family Circle Tennis Center. Wozniacki moved in front 5-2, but Zahlavova Strycova fought off four match points. Zahlovova Strycova had a chance to take the set leading 9-8, but sent the ball wide.

Wozniacki will play the sixth seed, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium for a spot in the semifinals. This is the first tournament on clay,” she said. “You need to get used to the conditions, you need to get used to sliding. There will be longer rallies in clay, there’s no doubt about it, and the matches will most likely be longer.” Wozniacki is among three of the top 10 players competing here. Fifth-ranked Samantha Stosur, the second seed and defending champion, fell to Elena Vesnina, 6-4, 6-1. Christina McHale, ranked 97th in the world, is the last American left after defeating Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (3), 6-1. Shahar Peer, ranked 11th, missed out on the chance to become the first Israeli woman ranked in the top 10 when she lost to Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-2, 6-3.

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Top seed and last week’s Sony Ericsson champion Victoria Azarenka made a successful switch to clay as she swept through to the second round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament in Marbella. Azarenka needed 74 minutes to dispatch Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2 6-3. There was better news for the hosts, though, when Anabel Medina Garrigues beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0 6-2.

In second-round action, Dinara Safina continued to show hints of a revival with a 6-3 6-4 win over fifth seed Tsvetana Pironkova, while second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was a 6-7 (2/7) 6-1 6-2 winner over Hungary’s Agnes Szavay. Sixth seed Klara Zakopalova was stretched to a final-set tie-break before beating Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-6 (7/3) 1-6 7-6 (7/0), while Italy’s Sara Errani beat Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-1 6-2.

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Samantha Stosur will miss the tie, which will be held at Glen Iris Valley Recreation Club, Mount Waverley, to better prepare for the clay-court season. Samantha Stosur said it has been a really tough decision to not play with the girls next week. “I love representing Australia and it has been difficult to prioritise my immediate schedule. But it is extremely important to me to focus on the clay-court season and get the best possible preparation for the French Open.” “I am confident though that we will still field a very strong team for this tie given the depth of talent we are developing in women’s tennis in Australia.”

Jarmila Groth (No.29), Jelena Dokic (No.64), Anastasia Rodionova (No.74) and Sophie Ferguson (No.124) will represent Australia in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Play-off tie against Ukraine on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April 2011.

“We are obviously disappointed that our No.1 player, Sam, will not be coming home for this tie but we respect her decision and I have faith in the other girls to get us back to the elite eight,” Taylor said. “Jarmila, Jelena and Anastasia are all in the top 100 players and Sophie also has the potential to also break into the top 100 women with a few strong performances. “Jelena has made a remarkable start to 2011 with a WTA title win in Kuala Lumpur, her first since 2002 and a quarterfinal appearance in Paris where she lost to Kim Clijsters. “She is also a proven Fed Cup performer, with a 13-3 win-loss record; and Jarmila and Anastasia have had amazing Fed Cup debuts beating much higher ranked players – Jarmila over Italian Francesca Schiavone last February in Hobart and Anastasia over Alona Bondarenko this time last year in Ukraine.

“Sophie, who will be representing the Fed Cup team for the first time since 2005, recorded a career high of No.109 in July last year and her favourite surface is clay. She made her best ever Grand Slam result at the French Open when she qualified and made the second round last year . “We have a lot of depth in the women’s team and with all four girls capable of strong performances Nicole [Bradtke] and I have some hard decisions to make leading into the tie. “With Sam absent is it a real opportunity for someone to step-up and lead the team. She has helped us get to this point but now there is the opportunity for someone else to fill this space.

“The Ukraine team are never an easy opponent and I expect them to come out fighting but the Australian girls have worked really hard to get into the World Group and I know they are keen to prove they belong there. It should be a great tie.”

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