Serena Williams moves to Charleston semifinals when Lisicki retires

Close observers of tennis couldn't have been surprised this morning in Charleston when Sabine Lisicki hit the ground, saw a trainer, and left the court with an ice pack. Lisicki and Serena Williams were playing the first quarterfinal of the day, at 1-1, deuce, in the first set, when Lisicki twisted her left ankle. The German player, who won the Family Circle Cup in 2009, immediately called for a trainer and was treated, but she retired when Williams went up 4-1. 

Lisicki, who has a history of ankle injuries, said that she would get an MRI done as soon as possible.

Later in the day, Lucie Safarova defeated Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. Zvonareva, who was seeded 4th, was the Charleston runner-up in both 2008 and 2010.

In doubles, defending champions Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina lost in the quarterfinals to wild cards Lucie Safarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The match began last night, but was postponed because of stormy weather. Safarova and Pavlyuchenkova defeated Mirza and Vesnina 6-7, 7-5, 10-7. 

Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova upset 4th seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6, 6-3, and top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond defeated Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Alla Kudryavtseva 7-5, 6-2.