Charleston, April 16:

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia won the biggest match of her career to defeat Dinara Safina of Russia 6-2, 6-2 for the Family Circle Cup on Sunday. It was the first WTA Tour Tier I final and victory for Jankovic, who was seeded second here and will improve to No 7 in the rankings.

Fourth-seeded Safina, who improved to No 10 by making the final, got to the championship without dropping a set during the tournament. Her semi-final opponent, Vera Zvonareva, retired with an injured wrist. Safina’s opponent in quarter-finals, Tatiana Golovin, retired at the end of the first set with an injured ankle.

Karlovic wins first ATP title

HOUSTON: Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic won his first ATP title on Sunday, defeating qualifier Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina 6-4, 6-1 in the US Clay Court Championship final.

Karlovic’s breakthrough title came in his third ATP finals appearance. The Croatian lost to Britain’s Andy Murray in the San Jose final in February and dropped the 2005 Queen’s final to American Andy Roddick.

By taking the $65,850 top prize, Karlovic denied Zabaleta’s bid to become the first qualifier to win an ATP event since Spain’s Nicolas Almagro won last year at Valencia.