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Serena triumphs at Charleston

Serena Williams was the dominant force once again © AP

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Serena Williams came from behind to get her hands on the Family Circle Cup in Charleston after beating Jelena Jankovic 3-6 6-0 6-2.

The world No. 1 got the better of her sister Venus in the semi-finals on Saturday, and after dropping the first set in the final against Jankovic, the American stamped her authority on the contest to only lose two games in the following two sets.

The 31-year-old notched up her 15th consecutive victory at the event, emerging as champion for a third time and retaining her title.

After the opening four games were shared, it was Jankovic who broke first. Williams had five chances herself to seize the initiative, but at the first time of asking Jankovic clinched the break, and held onto it for the rest of the set as Williams could not recover, and in a quarter-of-an-hour Jankovic had her nose in front.

The Serb would no doubt have been expecting a response from the Wimbledon and US Open champion, and it duly arrived as Williams whitewashed Jankovic in the second set to force a decider.

Jankovic had the advantage of serving first in the decider, but Williams raised her game and secured the break in the third game, returning a superb backhand winner off the Jankovic serve.

While Jankovic stayed in contention by winning her service games, Williams was not going to let the lead slip, and when the American made it 5-2, very quickly she finished the tie off by sealing the title with a backhand down the line.

Also on Sunday, at the Monterrey Open, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova survived a fightback from Angelique Kerber to win 4-6 6-2 6-4. Victory kept her perfect record at the tournament, which now stands at 15-0.

Having dropped the opening set, Pavlyuchenkova put nine straight games together to lead 5-0 in the final stanza. Kerber fought back to 4-5 but a Pavlyuchenkova forehand sealed the title.

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