12-26-2019, 02:47 AM
Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork. Nick Anderson Jersey .com) - There may not be an all- Williams semifinal at the Australian Open, but two Americans will square off as Serena Williams and Madison Keys won their respective quarterfinal matches on Wednesday. The reigning U.S. Open champion Serena cruised past Dominika Cibulkova in 64 minutes, while Keys continued her impressive run with a three-set win over a her childhood idol Venus at Melbourne Park. Serena looks poised for her sixth Aussie title and 19th major overall after running through last years Aussie runner-up Cibulkova, 6-2, 6-2. The 11th-seeded Cibulkova stood no chance against the focused superstar, who fired 15 aces and 31 winners in the lopsided match. The world No. 1 Serena made her win look easy Wednesday despite suffering from a bad cold. Ive been sick the past few days, and its just getting worse and worse, but hopefully it will get better, she said. I heard theres a virus going around with a lot of the players, and I think I caught it. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Keys, who had never traveled past the third round at a Grand Slam, battled through a thigh injury and overcame 45 unforced errors to pull out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over her older countrymate Venus. The unseeded Keys cruised in the first set but struggled with the thigh in the second. Venus took that set with an ace, and the third fittingly went back-and-forth. The former top-ranked star Venus, who was seeded 18th and came into the match 9-0 on the year, twice went up a break, and Keys promptly answered with one of her own. Up 5-4 on Venus serve, Keys closed things out with four consecutive points at love. On match point, she caught Venus n her heels with a deep forehand that was returned into the net. Its amazing, you just have to embrace the moment, Keys said after the match. And I get to enjoy another moment next round. Skys the limit, Venus said of Keys. There is no limit on what you can achieve. No one can stop you. Sometimes you may not win every match, but theres a lot of them you can win, said the seven-time Grand Slam champ. Really, the skys the limit for her and anyone out there. At 34-years-old, Venus was trying to become the oldest woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in decades. She had her sights set on a potential eighth major and a Grand Slam matchup with her younger sister for the first time since the 2009 Wimbledon final. Venus lost to Serena in the 2003 all-sibling Aussie Open final. Serena and Keys have never met before, while the Thursdays other womens semifinal will pit second-seeded former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova against 10th-seeded fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova is 5-0 lifetime against the left-handed Makarova, including quarterfinal wins at the last two Aussie Opens. Sharapova owns five major titles, including last years French Open and the 2008 Aussie. Shes also a two-time runner-up in Melbourne. Rashard Lewis Jersey . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. Darko Milicic Jersey . -- So much for concern that running back Marshawn Lynch would be absent from the Seattle Seahawks minicamp. https://www.cheapmagiconline.com/948i-aa...magic.html .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season.FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox had a big lead in last years opener at Yankee Stadium. Still, Dustin Pedroia slid headfirst trying to beat out his grounder. Bad decision, especially with Boston ahead 8-2 in the ninth inning. The win-at-all-costs second baseman tore a ligament in his left thumb, then missed just two games the rest of the season. "It was the most impressive thing I watched all year. The thumb was totally black," third-base and infield coach Brian Butterfield said Monday. "He didnt want anybody to know about it." So its not surprising that Pedroia downplayed how much it bothered him. "A little bit, but its fine now," he said. "Its fixed up, man. Its good. Its good to go." Pedroia had surgery to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament 14 days after the Red Sox won the World Series in Game 6 against St. Louis. He wore a cast for about a month. Then he worked on regaining his strength. And on Monday he took batting practice three days before the first official full-squad workout. His attitude, typically, is upbeat. "The rehab was great," Pedroia said. "I feel healthy and theres no setbacks, no restrictions or anything." The Red Sox won their second title in four years in 2007 and Pedroia was named AL rookie of the year. In 2008, he was the leagues MVP, but the Red Sox lost the AL championship series despite leading 1-0 in Game 7 through three innings against Tampa Bay. "That was a huge letdown," Pedroia said. "You dont want that feeling." He tried to keep that from happening last year when the Red Sox were in first place through the first 34 games. He was hitting .311 at that point and wasnt about to take time off because of his thumb with so much at stake. Pedroia did even better in the next 10 games. He went 18 for 40 to raise his average to .343. "The first month and a half he hit with one hand and he played with one hand," Butterfield said, "but he never even blinked. Hes so impressive in so many ways and he showed unbelievable toughness." His average never dropped below .291 for the season and he ended at .301 while leading the AL with 724 plate appearancces. Drew Gooden Jersey. He tied for second in the AL in hits and was second in the league in fielding percentage among second basemen. The only games he took off were on June 16 and in the regular-season finale Sept. 29. The Red Sox lost both. Pedroias injury reduced his power and he hit just nine homers, the fewest since he had eight in his rookie season. But he compensated by taking shorter swings and hitting more to the opposite field. "We had half of him, but he fought through it and he still was a highly productive player," Butterfield said. "He just kept playing and kept grinding and didnt flinch once. He never complained and just tried to find every way he could to make his game the most comfortable because I know early on he was playing with a lot of pain." Not that Pedroia would admit it. "You just figure it out," he said. "You just try to get hits, man. Thats it." With the Red Sox not re-signing shortstop Stephen Drew, Pedroia has a new double-play partner in rookie Xander Bogaerts. Pedroia knows hell find a way to make that work, too. "We all take ground balls a lot," he said. "Bogeys going to be fine. (Butterfield) will make sure that everybodys on the same page in the infield and our defence. We know what were doing." Healthy or not, Pedroia showed that he certainly does. And Butterfield still raves about that. "I get chill bumps when I start talking about him," Butterfield said. "He does anything that he can to try to win a game. Hes as tough as they come." NOTES: Manager John Farrell said Grady Sizemore will be used in left and centre field during spring training. The former Cleveland Indian missed the past two seasons with knee and back problems. Jackie Bradley Jr. is getting the first shot at replacing Jacoby Ellsbury, now with the New York Yankees, in centre field. Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes are back after sharing left field last year. ... LHP Jon Lester said it would be "great" if he could get a contract extension in spring training but hes focusing on preparing for the season. The club picked up his $13 million option for 2014. ' ' '