Tennis roundup
Serena Williams fires 12 aces in quarterfinal win CARSON, Calif. (AP) – No more giggling about trying to crack the top 100 in tennis’ world rankings. A resurgent Serena Williams has a new goal now.
Williams overcame the heat and her second three-set match in 17 hours to beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4 on Friday and advance to the JPMorgan Chase Open semifinals.
Playing her second tournament after a six-month layoff because of a left knee injury, Williams is unseeded and ranked 110th in the world two weeks before the U.S. Open begins.
“I’m reaching for the top 50,” she said, smiling. “Maybe I’ll get there, I think I’m definitely worthy.”
Maria Sharapova, seeking her second title in as many weeks, was slated to face fifth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia in a night match.
Williams returned for a day match Friday after putting away seventh-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round Thursday night.
The on-court temperature registered 98 degrees, but neither Williams nor Shaughnessy took advantage of any heat breaks.
Williams’ serve was markedly improved from the previous night. She fired 12 aces and had one double-fault. She overrode 34 errors by hitting 50 winners.
There were no service breaks in the first set, then Williams broke three times in the second.
Stockholm semis set
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Anastasia Myskina of Russia defeated Martina Sucha of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4, leading three of the top four seeds to the Nordic Light Open semifinals.
Only No. 2 seed Li Na stumbled, losing to unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 7-6 (7).
Li missed setting up an all-Chinese semifinal with No. 3 seed Zheng Jie, who breezed past 16-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-3, 6-1.
Gasquet, Murray advance
TORONTO – Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray defeated seeded players to advance to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup.
Gasquet upset Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-1, and Murray rallied to beat Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-7 (0), 6-3.
They will play each other Saturday. Gasquet needed only 66 minutes to complete the victory.
“I served well and I returned well, and I think against him it’s important because he’s really aggressive,” Gasquet said.
Murray needed 2 hours, 27 minutes to beat Nieminen.
The remaining seeded players are top-ranked Roger Federer, who will face Xavier Malisse, and 15th-seed Fernando Gonzalez, who will play Jose Acasuso later Thursday.