As a kid, Nicole Vaidisova used a yellow Venus Williams-model racket, honing her game with the goal of someday beating the world's best players.
Such as Williams.
And that's what the 17-year-old Vaidisova did on Tuesday, staging a comeback for her second successive upset at the French Open. She beat Williams 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3 to earn her first Grand Slam semifinal berth against Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday.
"She played really good tennis and seems to be on a roll," Williams said.
In her previous match, the precocious Czech beat top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo by a similar score: 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2.
"I've surprised myself a little," Vaidisova said.
Williams again came up short in her 10th try for a Roland Garros title.
"I would have loved to have done better," she said.
Earning berths in the other semifinal were Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, who will play each other for the 18th time on Thursday. Henin-Hardenne, who won the tournament in 2003 and 2005, beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 7-5, 6-2. Clijsters defeated Martina Hingis 7-6 (5), 6-1.
On the men's side, top-ranked Roger Federer moved closer to his fourth consecutive Grand Slam title by beating Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Roland Garros is the only major event Federer has yet to win.
"I'm much more relaxed now," he said. "There was enormous pressure at the start of the tournament."
His opponent on Friday will be No. 3-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina, who beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
For the first time in almost 36 years, a Parisian derby will be played in French soccer’s top flight when reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain FC take on the nouveau riche Paris Football Club (PFC) today. Not one of the players involved in today’s match — PFC’s 38-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Remy Riou is almost certainly not going to be involved — was born the last time there was a Parisian derby in Ligue 1. That was on Feb. 25, 1990, when Moroccan midfielder Aziz Bouderbala scored a brace as Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that
BOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four games Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) added 10 rebounds and five assists. It was his 158th regular-season game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and
Stan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes. Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. “Today was a tough battle ... it’s amazing to come here for the first time, to have so much support,” Wawrinka said yesterday. “Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play in the same place
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka yesterday got her season off to a winning start for Japan in the United Cup, after the UK’s Emma Raducanu pulled out of their singles clash with a fitness issue, while in Brisbane, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Wu Fang-hsien crashed out of the women’s doubles. In Perth, despite Osaka’s win, the UK took the match 2-1 with a deciding mixed doubles victory. Osaka was too strong for reserve and 276th-ranked Katie Swan, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 as Raducanu watched from the sidelines. “I’m proud of how I fought,” Osaka said. “I’d never played here, it was tough.” Britain
RSS