Even with the Williams sisters entered, there were no American players left at the Family Circle Cup after the completion of the third round on Thursday.
Serena Williams withdrew before the tournament even began with a thigh injury. Big sister Venus lost on Thursday in a shock straight-set exit to No. 16-seeded German Sabine Lisicko 6-4, 7-6(5).
The two remaining Americans managed only seven games between them in losses on the clay. Unseeded
Varvara Lepchenko was rolled 6-1, 6-1 by top-seeded
Elena Dementieva of Russia. Qualifier
Melanie Oudin lost 6-4, 6-1 to No. 6-seeded Frenchwoman
Marion Bartoli.
Other winners Thursday into the quarterfinals were (13)
Virginie Razzano over (3)
Vera Zvonareva who retired in the first ste with injury;
Melinda Czink upsetting (4)
Nadia Petrova in three sets; (5)
Caroline Wozniacki besting (10) Peng Shuai; (7)
Dominika Cibulkova outlasting
Anastasia Rodionova in three; and unseeded Russian
Elena Vesnina defeating
Viktoriya Kutuzova.
