A Championship Sunday to Remember
By: John Berkok

It's going to be a Championship Sunday to remember at the Family Circle Cup, as six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stars - including megastar Serena Williams - take the Stadium court for a piece of Tier I title glory.

First on the schedule at 11:00am will be the doubles final, pitting No.2 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama against the unseeded, surprise finalist pair of Edina Gallovits and Olga Govortsova. Srebotnik and Sugiyama have been playing together since just over a year ago and in that short time have placed themselves as one of the best teams in the world, winning titles at Toronto last summer and Miami just a few weeks ago (both Tier I events like this one). They are currently ranked No.4 and No.3 in the world in doubles, respectively, and are the closest threats to current co-No.1s Cara Black and Liezel Huber. Gallovits and Govortsova have enjoyed a dream run to the final in their first ever tournament together, taking out three seeded teams en route, including No.3 seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs in the quarterfinals and No.1 seeds Black and Huber in the semis. They will try to complete their Top 3 collection against Srebotnik and Sugiyama.

Following the doubles final (but not before 1pm) will be the singles final between No.5 seed Williams and No.9 seed Vera Zvonareva. Both have had to endure multiple three set matches to reach the title bout, with Williams going the distance against Srebotnik in the round of 16 and Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals and Zvonareva going to three sets with Marion Bartoli, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva in her last three matches. With both playing at their best this could be the toughest of them all.

Williams goes into the final on a 14-match win streak, winning back-to-back titles at Bangalore and Miami coming in and winning four more rounds here; although she hasn't won a title yet this year, Zvonareva has also compiled an exceptional season thus far, winning 25 matches in eight events and playing her third final of the year on Sunday (she was a runner-up at Hobart and Doha). One thing working in the Russian's favor is that with her wins over Jankovic and Dementieva this is the first time in her career to beat two Top 10 players at the same event, her first seven Top 10 wins having come in seven separate events; but on the flipside, Williams has the head-to-head advantage, winning four of the pair's five previous encounters.

"I need to get out to a much faster start than I did in the semifinals," Williams said. "I'm playing a tough player. Every day I've been playing a tough player but it's the finals, and everyone wants to win."

"I can't have ups and downs in the match, because if you give her a chance she's going to take it," Zvonareva said. "She's experienced, she's a great player and she's not going to let you get back into the match, so I have to stay concentrated throughout the whole match."

Will the established duo of Srebotnik and Sugiyama be able to halt the Cinderella run of Gallovits and Govortsova? Will Zvonareva snap Williams' win streak?

Find out on Championship Sunday at the 2008 Family Circle Cup.

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