TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Paul Collingwood takes part in practice session Paul Collingwood came through a tentative practice session this morning as he seeks to prove his fitness for the third Test in Cape Town. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
This is why Brett Favre came back; are Vikes ready for a run? Brett Favre will return to the NFL's summit if he leads the Minnesota Vikings to three more victories. What a climb given the valley he was in ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
McGwire set to make St. Louis appearance ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mark McGwire will make his first public appearance in St. Louis since being hired as the Cardinals' hitting coach.... hosted.ap.org |
Plushenko back in full form at Europeans TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Evgeni Plushenko might be better than ever.... hosted.ap.org |
Australia indifferent as Williams sisters march towards semi-final duel • Serena Williams beats Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-2• Venus Williams beats Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-2, 6-1Such is the seeming inevitability of an all-Williams semi-final here at the Australian Open that the host broadcaster Channel 7 did not even bother showing Serena's fourth-round win today. Given that she was playing an Australian, Sam Stosur, it was a pretty amazing decision, but it seems that the news and soap opera Home and Away take precedence over a bit of tennis in these parts.The match between the world No1 Serena Williams and the Australian 14th seed Stosur was delayed initially because the afternoon session overran, specifically Nikolay Davydenko taking five sets to get past Fernando Verdasco. Fans were treated to only a few minutes of the women's match on Channel 7 and had to wait until after the completion of the evening session before seeing how Stosur got on.When they eventually got to see it they will have been disappointed because Stosur was thoroughly outplayed by Williams, who despite having strapping on her right thigh and just below her left knee, cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 victory. In the last eight, she will play the seventh seed, Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 winner over the Russian Vera Zvonareva in the late match.The programming switch may have bothered the fans watching at home, but Williams, a four-times champion here, seemed untroubled. "We just have to get the guys to finish earlier, before five sets," she said. "I'll talk to Fernando about that. You can't hold all the TV time. They have Nikolay, Mr Personality, now. He just wanted to be on TV and they took all our time. I'll have to have a talk with those guys next time."Talented as she is, now we are this deep in the tournament, Azarenka is unlikely to stop Williams from reaching the last four. There, she will almost certainly play her elder sister Venus, who recovered from a slow start to beat the Italian Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Considering her achievements at Wimbledon, where she has won the title five times and at the US Open, where she has lifted the trophy twice, Venus's record at Melbourne Park has been relatively poor. Only once, in 2003, has she reached the final here and more often than not her mind has seemed to be elsewhere. The minds of her fans appear to have been on her outfit, though, with a clamour about whether she is wearing any underwear forcing her to reveal all on Twitter. "I am wearing undershorts the same colour as my skin, so it gives the slits in my dress the full effect," she said.When she dropped the first set against the No17 seed, Schiavone, it looked as if she would be on another early flight home but she pulled herself together and in the end it was a relatively comfortable victory. Venus will take on Li Na in the quarter-finals on Wednesday after the Chinese No16 seed upset an injury-affected Caroline Wozniacki. The Danish No4 seed reached the final of the US Open last September and was tipped by many to reach another final here but her movement was affected by a right leg problem and Li took advantage.Laura Robson made an impressive start to her junior singles campaign as she hammered the 15-year-old Australian wild card Belinda Woolcock 6-0, 6-1 in just 36 Âminutes. But there will be no junior doubles crown for Robson and Heather Watson after Robson pulled out in order to boost her singles bid and her efforts in the women's doubles, where todayshe and her Australian partner, Sally Peers, will bid for a place in the semi-finals.Serena WilliamsVenus WilliamsAustralian OpenTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |