Serena Williams retained the No. 1 world ranking by being her sister Venus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.
The match was the 20th meeting between the sisters, and each has won 10 times.
Serena needed to reach the final to retain the top ranking she has held since Feb. 2. Otherwise she would have been supplanted next week by No. 2-ranked Dinara Safina of Russia.
PHOTO: AP
“I’m excited,” Serena said. “I was thinking I’d love to remain No. 1. I think I was more happy about that than winning the match.”
Serena’s opponent today will be 19-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who beat 2006 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Azarenka became ill with a stomach complaint before losing a fourth-round match against Williams at the Australian Open in January.
Serena jumped to a 4-1 lead in the final set against her older sister and broke serve for the sixth time in the final game. When she closed out her victory, she hopped in delight, raised a fist and shouted “Yes!” She then met her sister at the net with a handshake and slap on the back.
PHOTO: AFP
“Even though she’s my sister, I’m still here to win,” Venus said. “I can’t give anyone anything. So I’m disappointed that I lost tonight, whether or not she kept the ranking or not.”
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal lost in the men’s quarter-finals to 20-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
Nadal had won all four of his previous meetings with del Potro without dropping a set — including a quarter-final victory at Indian Wells.
The upset delighted a partisan crowd that included many transplants from Argentina.
Del Potro had lost all nine sets in their four previous matches, but he was buoyed by a home-court advantage, with many transplanted Argentines in the crowd singing “Del-Po” between points.
“Wonderful for the crowd,” top-ranked Nadal said. “Terrible for me.”
The No. 6-seeded del Potro was yesterday to face No. 4 Andy Murray of Britain, who beat No. 8 Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2.
Murray broke serve five times and saved seven of eight break points against him.
Serena is seeking her sixth Key Biscayne title, which would break the record she shares with Steffi Graf. She’s 52-5 in the event, with one loss since 2001 — to Venus.
After losing her past two meetings with Venus, Serena said she was glad to pull even in the rivalry.
“I would love to be in the lead again,” she said.
Del Potro showed patience in long rallies and used his looping forehand to keep Nadal deep as their three-hour match built to a dramatic finish.
“I beat him with my mind and with my game,” del Potro said. “When we played long points, I was dominating every time.”
Nadal was up two breaks in the final set at 3-love, but del Potro climbed back into the match by winning 12 of the next 14 points.
“I played really bad all the time,” Nadal said. “When I have it 3-love in the third, I played worse. It was amazing disaster.”
When Nadal lost serve for the second consecutive time for 3-all, del Potro let loose a primal scream. There was more noise to come.
In the 12th game of the set, Nadal saved three match points, two with aces. He caught a break in the tiebreaker when his return skipped along the net cord before clearing it for a winner and a 3-2 lead.
That was the last point Nadal won. Del Potro hit three consecutive winners to go up 6-3, and on the final point Nadal put a backhand in the net as the crowd erupted one last time.
“I beat the No. 1,” del Potro said. “If you don’t play unbelievable, you cannot beat him.”
Nadal, a six-time Grand Slam champion, won at Indian Wells two weeks ago, but his best finish at Key Biscayne was as the runner-up in 2005 and last year.
“I didn’t play well during this tournament,” Nadal said. “I didn’t adapt well. I played really bad.”
Azarenka closed out her victory on her fourth match point when Kuznetsova netted a backhand to end the 2-hour, 40-minute endurance test played in 30˚C sunshine.
“It’s the first final in such a big tournament for me,” Azarenka said. “It’s the biggest moment, I would say, in my career. It’s all kind of an experience for me. It’s a new thing that I’m going to be introduced to on how to handle.”
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and