Jankovic, who won 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) also beat Williams last year on the grass at Wimbledon.

She’ll meet fourth-seeded Dinara Safina, who advanced when fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva, who had a wrist injury, retired during the other semifinal.

Jankovic and Williams contested every point for just over 2{ hours on the green clay at Daniel Island. In the end, the only thing that separated them was the last two points of the third-set tiebreaker.

They were tied 5-5 when Williams hit a forehand long, putting Jankovic up by one.

On the next point, Jankovic sent a shot past Williams along the sideline. She started to celebrate, but Williams reacted as though it was out. The umpire checked the spot, determined it was in and Jankovic raised her hands in triumph.

“She kind of like was going to shake my hand and then she was in doubt,” Jankovic said. “So I was really lucky on that one to win. It was great.”

Williams, who had 13 double faults, won the Family Circle Cup three years ago but Jankovic will make her first appearance in the final. Her performance will move her up to No. 7 in the next world rankings, the highest ever for the 22-year-old.

Both Safina, ranked No. 12 in the world, and Zvonareva, ranked No. 20, said on Friday they had nagging wrist injuries. Both retired from their doubles matches on Friday so they could concentrate on the singles.

Safina was leading 6-3, 0-1 when Zvonareva, whose wrist had been bothering her all week, retired.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email