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Gulf Daily News Thursday, 29th January 2015
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KEYS ENDS VENUS HOPES
MELBOURNE: Top seed
Serena Williams remains
on a collision course with
arch-rival Maria Sharapova
after rampaging into the
Australian Open semi-finals yesterday.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion was
at her brutal best, crushing last year’s finalist Dominka Cibulkova in straight
sets to set up an all-American last
four showdown with unseeded
teenager Madison Keys.
The other semi-final clash today
is an all-Russian affair between
second seed Sharapova, who owns
five Grand Slam titles, and Ekaterina Makarova, seeded tenth.
Both star players have hit top form as the
tournament progresses and are hot favourites to advance to Saturday’s final.
Serena, 33, is contesting her 26th Slam
semi-final after pummelling Cibulkova 6-2,
6-2, while it is 19-year-old Keys’ first experience of the final four in a major.
The world number 35 Keys showed her
talent with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 quarter-final win
to end Venus Williams’ stirring return to
the Grand Slam big time but aggravated a
long-standing thigh injury during the bruising encounter.
Serena tipped Keys as a future Slam
champion, but will be conceding nothing
on court to an opponent who stopped her
and Venus from facing each other
at a major for the first time since
2009.
“Obviously, this is her first
semi-finals. I’m sure there’s going
to be many more, including Grand
Slam wins, for Madison,” she said
of the big-serving baseliner, who is
coached by former great Lindsay
Davenport.
The pair have never played before and
Serena must win to claim a 19th title that
would put her a clear second on the all-time
Open Era winners’ list and ensure she retains the world number one spot.
Serena has made the Australian semi-finals five times before and always gone on
the claim the title.
Sharapova, who triumphed at Melbourne
Park in 2008 and has lost the final twice,
goes into her semi-final with a 5-0 record
over Makarova, including two quarter-finals
at the Australian Open (2012 and 2013).
The 27-year-old insisted “there’s no secrets” in Makarova’s game but is wary of
the threat from an underdog playing with
no pressure.
“That’s always a tricky situation because
she’s going to come into that match free
and almost happy to be in that situation,
and that’s dangerous,” she said.
Sharapova, who brushed aside Canadian
rising star Eugenie Bouchard to make the
semi-finals, said the left-handed Makarova’s serve could also be a problem.
“I haven’t faced a lefty in this tournament yet. She’s been using her lefty serve
extremely well from what I’ve seen. I’ll be
looking out for that, work on a few things,”
she said.
The 26-year-old Makarova has broken
into the top 20 and reached the 2014 US
Open semi-finals since she last
played Sharapova and world
number three Simona Halep
warned that her game had matured.
“I was expecting she will hit
more stronger, but she didn’t.
She played very soft tennis,”
said the Romanian.
l Djokovic to face Wawrinka
l Results, Order of Play
n Keys celebrates
after defeating
Venus
Page – 31
Lee denied fairytale ending
PERTH: Brett Lee was denied a
last-ball hat-trick and a fairytale end
to his professional cricket career
as the Perth Scorchers scrambled
a single off the fast bowler to win
back-to-back Big Bash League titles
in Canberra on yesterday.
The Twenty20 final was the
38-year-old former Australia
paceman Lee’s last match and he
came on to bowl the final over
for the Sydney Sixers with the
opposition needing eight runs.
The Perth side looked in firm
control needing one run from
three balls in their chase of 148
but Lee, who has played 76 Tests
and 221 one-day internationals for
Australia, was not ready to bow
out without a final flourish.
Having dismissed Michael Klinger
for his first wicket earlier, Lee
clean bowled Nathan Coulter-Nile
(seven) and Sam Whiteman (zero)
with the fourth and fifth ball of the
final over to give Sydney hopes of
an unlikely tie.
He was right on target with his
hat-trick ball but Sydney captain
Moises Henriques fumbled a throw
at the non-striker’s end to allow
Yasir Arafat, who was well short
of the crease, to complete the
required single for victory.
n Finch joins Yorkshire
LONDON: Yorkshire have signed
Australian batsmen Aaron Finch
and Glenn Maxwell as their
overseas players for the 2015
season, the reigning English
county champions announced
yesterday.
Finch, who played for Yorkshire
last season, will play in all
formats of the game, while
Maxwell is due to feature in the
domestic T20 Blast competition.
Maxwell, who has previously
played for Yorkshire’s domestic
rivals Hampshire and Surrey,
was this week named Australia’s
Twenty20 Player-of-the-Year.
n Mourinho fined
LONDON: Chelsea manager Jose
Mourinho has been fined £25,000
($38,000, 34,500 euros) over
comments he made following his
side’s 1-1 draw at Southampton
last month, the Football
Association announced yesterday.
Mourinho claimed there was
a media-driven “campaign”
against his team following a
spate of diving allegations and
said a yellow card shown to Cesc
Fabregas for simulation during the
game was a “scandal”.
“Following an Independent
Regulatory Commission hearing,
Jose Mourinho has been fined
£25,000 after he was found to have
breached FA Rules in relation to
media comments,” the FA said in a
statement on its website.
an opponent during their La
Liga clash with Cordoba last
Saturday, the Spanish league
said yesterday.
Ronaldo was unable to make
an impact in the match and his
frustration saw him first lash out
with his hand at Jose Crespo,
which the referee missed, and then
minutes later kicked out at Edimar
for which he was sent off.
n McManaman for West Ham
LONDON: West Bromwich Albion
have signed versatile midfielder
Callum McManaman from Wigan
Athletic on a three-and-half-year
contract for an undisclosed fee,
the Premier League club said
yesterday.
The 23-year-old FA Cup winner
is Tony Pulis’ first signing since
he took charge at The Hawthorns
earlier this month.
McManaman, whose contract
includes an option for an extra 12
months, came through the ranks at
Wigan and helped the club lift the
FA Cup in 2013 when they stunned
Manchester City 1-0 in the final
but they also suffered the heartache
of relegation.
n Ronaldo banned
MADRID: Real Madrid’s
Cristiano Ronaldo has been
given a two-match ban following
his dismissal for kicking out at
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