Srebotnik, Sugiyama win doubles

Mic Smith
The Post and Courier

Ai Sugiyama (left) and Katarina Srebotnik celebrate after winning the doubles title in the Family Circle Cup on Sunday.

Ai Sugiyama likes to play golf, even while playing tennis on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and she got a round in Wednesday at the Daniel Island Club. Sugiyama and partner Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia made such quick work of the Family Circle Cup doubles final on Sunday, the 32-year-old from Japan had plenty of time to ponder 18 more holes before dinner.

The tournament's No. 2 seeds needed just 61 minutes to defeat unseeded Edina Gallovits of Romania and Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 6-2, 6-2, two weeks after winning the doubles title at Miami.

"Unfortunately, I have to leave," Sugiyama said. "But it was a beautiful golf course."

Nice tennis tournament, too.

Srebotnik and Sugiyama, a team for just a year, split the $59,000 first prize. Sugiyama is the No. 3-ranked doubles player in the world and Srebotnik is No. 4.

"It was important to get the crucial points," said Srebotnik, 27. "That's why the score looks easier than it was."

Gallovits and Govortsova upset top-seeded Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the U.S. in the semifinals and No. 3 seeds Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Rennae Stubbs of Australia in the quarterfinals.

But Srebotnik and Sugiyama served notice Saturday with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of No. 8 seeds Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Elena Vesnina of Russia.

"It looked easy," Sugiyama said of the final, "but actually it was not easy at all. They have been playing good. We expected them to play well, and they did."