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.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB