UPDATE 2-Tennis-Serena beats Zvonareva for Charleston title

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By Gene Sapakoff

CHARLESTON, South Carolina, April 20 (Reuters) - Serena Williams recovered from a second-set lapse to win her third WTA title of the year by beating Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the Family Circle Cup final on Sunday.

The fifth-seeded American fought back from an early break down in the third set to wrap up victory in one hour 50 minutes.

Williams, 26, broke the ninth-seeded Russian in the third game of the match on the green clay surface and held serve to take the first set when her opponent netted a forehand.

After surprisingly losing the second set as her frustrations mounted, Williams broke Zvonareva twice in the third set to clinch the 31st WTA title of her career.

"It was definitely an up-and-down final like most of my matches have been this week," world number nine Williams said in a courtside television interview. "I hit a lot of errors today but I'm glad I was able to come through.

"I felt like: 'Gosh, I need to step it up (or) I'm going to go home angry.' So I thought: 'Okay Serena, you really have nothing to lose. You know all you have to do is just play your game'.

"I'm feeling really good," added the American, who will rise to sixth in the world when the rankings are issued on Monday.