The Latest: Venus Williams advances to Wimbledon semifinals

Venus Williams third round press conference

LONDON (AP) The Latest on Wimbledon (all times local):

Venus and Serena Williams won again at Wimbledon.

The American sisters advanced to the quarterfinals in the doubles tournament on Tuesday, beating sixth-seeded Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-3 on No. 3 Court a short time after each reached the semifinals of the women"s singles competition.

Venus, a five-time singles champion, and younger sister Serena, a six-time champion at the All England Club, have teamed up to win five doubles titles at the grass-court major.

Dominika Cibulkova"s wedding is on.

The 19th-seeded Slovak lost to Elena Vesnina in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Tuesday, falling 6-2, 6-2 on No. 1 Court.

Cibulkova is planning to get married on Saturday in Bratislava, but said she would have to postpone the wedding if she kept winning at the All England Club. The women"s final is also set for Saturday.

Instead, it will be Vesnina playing defending champion Serena Williams on Thursday in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Six-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams is back in the semifinals at the All England Club.

The top-seeded American beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court to reach the semifinals for the 10th time.

Williams will next face either Dominika Cibulkova or Elena Vesnina.

Venus Williams is one match away from another Wimbledon final.

The five-time champion advanced to the semifinals at the All England Club by beating Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (5), 6-2 on No. 1 Court.

The 36-year-old Williams won her first Wimbledon title in 2000, and then added others in 2001, "05, "07 and "08.

She then reached the final in 2009, and the quarterfinals in 2010, but has struggled to go deep into the second week in recent years.

Williams will next face Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber staggered into the Wimbledon semifinals by beating Simona Halep of Romania 7-5, 7-6 (2).

The quarterfinal match on Centre Court was messy, featuring 13 breaks of serve, more than half of the games.

Kerber was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, and ended up having win in a tiebreaker.

In her first Wimbledon semifinal match since 2012, Kerber will next play either Venus Williams or Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Tomas Berdych completed the quarterfinal lineup at Wimbledon when he finally overcame Czech countryman Jiri Vesely 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8), 6-7 (9), 6-3.

Their fourth-round match was suspended overnight, at two sets apiece, because of darkness on Monday.

Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Rafael Nadal, will play Lucas Pouille of France for the first time, in the quarterfinals.

For Berdych, it will be his third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. He was stopped in the last eight at the Australian and French Opens.

Play is underway in the women"s quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

In the first match on Centre Court, fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany is playing No. 5 Simona Halep of Romania. On No. 1 court, five-time champion Venus Williams is up against Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, in the resumption of a fourth-round men"s match, Tomas Berdych and Jiri Vesely are back on Court 3, tied at two sets apiece.

The Williams sisters are back in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, 16 years after they first made it this far together at the All England Club.

Six-time champion Serena and five-time winner Venus will be playing on Tuesday for spots in the semifinals.

Top-ranked Serena will face No. 21-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Centre Court in one of the day"s four women"s quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Venus was paired against Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan on No. 1 Court.

Australian Open champion and No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber was scheduled first on Centre Court against No. 5 Simona Halep, with No. 19 Dominika Cibulkova facing Elena Vesnina on No. 1 Court.

One men"s fourth-round match still needed to be completed, with No. 10 Tomas Berdych and Jiri Vesely resuming at two sets apiece.

Source: http://poststar.com/sports/the-latest-venus-williams-advances-to-wimbledon-semifinals/article_b2853081-8fb2-5b8f-9365-a77872908f5f.html

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Tennis-Head-to-head record of Serena and Venus Williams

Venus Williams Fourth Round Press Conference

Sept 7 Head-to-head record of Serena and Venus Williams going into their United States quarter-final on Tuesday.

1998 Australian Open - Venus won 7-6(4) 6-1 1998 Rome - Venus won 6-4 6-2 1999 Miami - Venus won 6-1 4-6 6-4 1999 Munich - Serena won 6-1 3-6 6-3 2000 Wimbledon - Venus won 6-2 7-6(3) 2001 U.S. Open - Venus won 6-2 6-4 2002 Miami - Serena won 6-2 6-2 2002 French Open - Serena won 7-5 6-3 2002 Wimbledon - Serena won 7-6(4) 6-3 2002 U.S. Open - Serena won 6-4 6-3 2003 Australian Open - Serena won 7-6(4) 3-6 6-4 2003 Wimbledon - Serena won 4-6 6-4 6-2 2005 Miami - Venus won 6-1 7-6(8) 2005 U.S. Open - Serena won 7-6(5) 6-2 2008 Bangalore - Serena won 6-3 3-6 7-6(4) 2008 Wimbledon - Venus won 7-5 6-4 2008 U.S. Open - Serena won 7-6(6) 7-6(7) 2008 Doha - Venus won 5-7 6-1 6-0 2009 Dubai - Venus won 6-1 2-6 7-6(3) 2009 Miami - Serena won 6-4 3-6 6-3 2009 Wimbledon - Serena won 7-6(3) 6-2 2009 Doha - Serena won 5-7 6-4 7-6(4) 2009 Doha - Serena won 6-2 7-6(4) 2013 Charleston - Serena won 6-1 6-2 2014 Montreal - Venus won 6-7(2) 6-2 6-3 2015 Wimbledon - Serena won 6-4 6-3 (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina. Editing by Steve Keating)

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/07/tennis-open-williams-record-idUKL1N11D0MZ20150907

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Serena & Venus Williams Close To Facing Off At US Open

2015 Rogers Cup First Round | Sabine Lisicki vs Venus Williams | WTA Highlights

NEW YORK (AP) All in one fell swoop, Venus Williams eliminated one of the only two women who beat her younger sister this season and moved closer to a possible U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown against Serena.

Gathering herself after a mid-match dip in play Friday, Venus reeled off the last five games and beat 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2010.

Did Venus get any family advice before facing Bencic, who defeated Serena last month en route to the title at a hard-court event in Toronto?

Yes, but thats between us, Venus said, breaking into a wide smile. I think it worked.

At 35, Venus was the oldest woman in the field. At 18, Bencic was the youngest to make it to the third round. She is mentored by Martina Hingis, who was sitting in the front row of her guest box in Arthur Ashe Stadium on a cloudy, breezy afternoon.

During an on-court interview after the victory Friday, Venus was asked about having reached her first major final in her U.S. Open debut back in 1997 about six months after Bencic was born. Venus happened to lose that match to Hingis.

Why do you have to bring all that stuff up? It makes me feel old, Venus replied, chuckling. I love the game. I love the U.S. Open. I love how everyone got behind me, even when I was down.

Venus trailed 4-1 in the second set before grabbing the last five games against a player she called tenacious.

Bencic takes the ball early, plays angles Hingis can appreciate, and is considered a likely future star of the game.

I feel like the people recognize me a little bit more sometimes, like, Oh, shes the girl who beat Serena. I dont think they know my name, Bencic said, but they just know I beat her.

Serena is seeking to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam at the U.S. Open and brought a 50-2 record in 2015 into her match against Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Friday night. Rafael Nadal was scheduled to face Fabio Fognini after that.

In other action, 13th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, a 2014 semifinalist, was rebuffed in an attempt to get attention from a trainer for cramping in her taped-up right thigh while serving for the match, but eventually held on to beat 17th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5.

I was so scared, said Makarova, who will play 40th-ranekd Kristina Mladenovic of France.

Defending champion Marin Cilic was among the men advancing in the afternoon, edging Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-1. Benoit Paire of France eliminated No. 26 Tommy Robredo, and No. 19 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, both in straight sets.

After getting broken late in the first set Friday, Bencic looked to be making headway in the second against the 23rd-seeded Venus, breaking for a 3-1 lead with a running, down-the-line backhand passing shot that drew an errant volley.

But Venus won 21 of the last 29 points, including 11 of the last 12 she served, and wound up with a 31-12 edge in winners.

Looking ahead, she could face Serena early next week. Asked on court how aware she was of that, Venus said: At this point, if you dont know, youre Im not even going to say. I hope we both get to the quarterfinals. I do.

Venus will face 19-year-old Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, a qualifier ranked 152nd who beat Madison Brengle of the United Sates 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. Kontaveit hadnt won a Grand Slam match until Monday.

I have no idea how she plays or anything, Venus said. I will try to put the ball in the court again.

Since getting to the semifinals five years ago, Venus has lost in the U.S. Opens first round once, the second round twice and the third round last year.

She was asked whether it feels new and exciting to be headed toward the second week of the tournament again.

Its not new, Venus began, then paused before adding: Its always exciting.

( Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/09/04/serena-venus-williams-close-to-facing-off-at-us-open/

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Out of the spotlight, Venus Williams grinds out win at US Open

CLASSIC: Venus Williams vs Amelie Mauresmo US OPEN 2002 SF

NEW YORK With the spotlight firmly on her little sister Serena stalking a calendar year Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, Venus Williams quietly goes about the business of winning like a champion.

Monday, she had to tough out a 2-hour, 45-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium against the unseeded and undaunted Monica Puig, winning, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3.

After being up a break in the second set, Williams found herself extended to a tiebreaker as the gritty Puig ran down everything and managed to keep her opponent pinned on the baseline. In their only other meeting in 2013, Puig forced three sets in a loss in Charleston.

Yeah, I was a little bit shocked I was still out there, Williams said of being carried to a third set. I thought I had the match wrapped. She played really good points.

The two-time Open champion, who is 35, and the 85th-ranked player in the world, who is 21, exchanged long rallies during an intense, high-quality match with no timeouts. They then exchanged compliments after it ended.

I am so excited I had this opportunity, Puig said. Compared to two years ago, we still had the same fight in a long match. At 35 years old, I hope I am playing that well. She is a great champion, great fighter and one thing nobody can take away from her is all the titles she has to her name. Honestly, I dont care what anybody says about her age or anything else, shes a great champion. In my eyes, a real honor to play her again and hopefully, I can play her a couple more.

Williams said: Give her a lot of credit, too. She had a lot of really good shots at the right moments, so shes a really good competitor.

As for the lack of timeouts, somewhat unusual in a womens match of that length, Puig said: I just think we are both extremely healthy at the moment. No need for that. It was a match we had no time to let our mind wander away from what was going on. If someone dropped the intensity for even a second, the other one was already reading it.

In other opening matches, Sloane Stephens comeback season was derailed by fellow American Coco Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-3. And Eugenie Bouchards dismal year was brightened by a win against Peters Township native Alison Riske, 6-4, 6-3.

Stephens had once reached No. 11 in the world without winning a tournament or ever reaching a final. But this summer, she reached the Washington final and won, validating a lot of hard work after a disappointing 2014.

I was trying my b**t off and it just wasnt there, Stephens said. I mean, I hit some good shots, she hit some better ones. Thats kind of how it was.

Bouchard, 21, has plummeted in the rankings after reaching No. 5 last season. She currently is No. 25 and looking down rather than up with 10 opening-round losses this season.

She fought back from a break down in the first set against Riske on Monday, an improvement in Grand Slam performance over first-round losses in the French Open and Wimbledon.

Its great to get one win, Bouchard said. Im just focused on one day at time, one point, one match. Not looking ahead at all. Not getting ahead of myself.

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/other-sports/2015/08/31/Out-of-the-spotlight-Venus-Williams-grinds-out-win-at-U-S-Open/stories/201508310187

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