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Napsal: pát 21. zář 2018 7:22:50BRISBANE, Australia -- One of the Williams sisters advanced to the final in an Australian Open warm-up event at Auckland, and the other is one victory away in Brisbane. Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury. Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic turned Saturdays final into a match between former world No. 1s when she beat third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-2, 7-6 (3). Top-ranked Serena Williams was playing third-seeded Maria Sharapova in the Brisbane International semifinals later Friday. Shes the defending Brisbane champion and has a 14-2 winning record against Sharapova, including the last 13 matches dating back to 2005. While Serena Williams has been close to career-best form, winning 78 of her 82 matches in 2013, her older sister Venus has been struggling with injuries and is playing her first tournament since September. The ASB Classic will be her first final since she captured the title in Luxembourg in October 2012. Ivanovic, who won the most recent of her 11 WTA singles titles in 2011, has the chance to carry considerable momentum into the Australian Open later this month if she can maintain her current form. She swept through the first set of the semifinal in only 21 minutes, breaking Flipkens in the first, third and fifth games. "In the first set I didnt do much wrong and in the second set we were both serving really well," Ivanovic said. "Im just really happy that I kept calm in the tiebreak and played some really good tennis." Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka was playing Jelena Jankovic in the Brisbane semifinals on Friday afternoon, hoping for a spot in the final against either Serena Williams or Sharapova. On the mens side in Brisbane, second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over Marin Cilic of Croatia and will next meet former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, who cruised past Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 6-4, 6-2. Top-seeded Roger Federer will play Australian Marinko Matosevic in a night match. At the Hopman Cup mixed team event in Perth, France clinched a place in Saturdays final against Poland by beating winless Spain. Alize Cornet overcame left hamstring soreness to beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-2 before Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sealed the victory by defeating 194th-ranked Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2. The United States takes on Czech Republic in a night match. Ramon Humber Jersey . - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer. Kyle Williams Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.thebillsgearshop.com/Bills-T ... ft-Jersey/. -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Marshall Newhouse Jersey . -- Sonny Grays fastball wasnt as sharp as it usually is, and the Oakland Athletics young pitcher even had a quirky replay go against him. Chris Ivory Jersey . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers.TORONTO - Just days after locking up star point guard Kyle Lowry, the teams top offseason priority, the Raptors are following suit with restricted free agent forward Patrick Patterson. Although the deal cannot be made official until the free agent moratorium period is lifted on July 10, Patterson has agreed to a three-year, $18 million extension to remain in Toronto, sources confirm to TSN.ca Friday afternoon. Patterson, 25, was acquired in the seven-player deal that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento in December and played a significant role in the Raptors resurgence last year. One of the leagues premier reserves at his position following the trade, the fourth-year forward appeared in 48 games for Toronto, starting seven, and averaging 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds while shooting 48 per cent from the field and 41 per cent from three-point range. As a restricted free agent, the Raptors could have matched any offer Patterson received on the open market but retaining him was a priority for general manager Masai Ujiri and something he moved on quickly after agreeing to terms with Lowry late Wednesday night. Patterson figured to draw a fair amount of interest from teams around the league after jumpstarting his young career in Toronto. Although he struggled to begin the year with the Kings, Patterson emerged as a versatile, two-way player that can stretch the floor at the power forward position. He became especially valuable as starter Amir Johnson began to wear down, battling a myriad of injuries late in the season. Patterson, often the first player off the bench last year, is expected to have a bigger role with the Raptors in 2014-15 and beyond. Toronto had a record of 42-22 following the early-season trade that made Patterson a Raptor, finishing the campaign with a franchise-best 48 wins and division title en route to a seven-game, first round defeat in the playoffs. Shortly after extending the contract of head coach Dwane Casey in May, Ujiri expressed his desire to keep his team, one that exceeded all expectations a year ago, together going forward. "As far as Im concerned, keeping our core group going forwward, with Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez and Patterson and Nando, those guys are priorities for us," the Raptors GM had said.dddddddddddd "And if you want to build, I think a team where we have young players, we have to build continuity. When free agency comes, we have to attack our guys first." With that goal in mind the next order of business will be retaining Vasquez, also a restricted free agent, expected to be done soon. In an effort to create the cap space required to complete a deal with the back-up point guard and perhaps add another piece while maintaining future flexibility and avoiding luxury tax penalties, the Raptors have also traded veteran sharpshooter Steve Novak to the Utah Jazz, reports Yahoo Sports. Toronto will send a future second-round selection to the Jazz as a sweetener and take back the non-guarantted contract of guard Diante Garrett, who will be immediately waived, in order to unload the $7.2 million Novak is owed over the next two years. After the Lowry and Patterson signings are made official and assuming guards Julyan Stone and Dwight Buycks are also waived (their deals are non-guaranteed if voided before July 7 and July 22 respectively), the Raptors will have roughly $62 million committed to 10 players under contract for next season, not including Vasquez, free agent guard Nando De Colo and rookies Bruno Caboclo, Lucas Nogueira or DeAndre Daniels. Even after signing their rookies and inking Vasquez to a new deal, the Raptors should be able to use most of their mid-level exception to address another need on the roster and remain under the salary cap. Aided by the trade of Novak, Toronto should have max or near max cap space next summer, with only Lowry, Patterson, DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross and this years rookies on their books for the 2015-16 season. Novak was acquired in the trade that sent Andrea Bargnani to New York a year ago. The 31-year-old forward and three-point shooting specialist averaged 3.3 points in 54 games with the Raptors last season, his eighth in the NBA. Cheap Nuggets Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Warriors Jerseys Cheap Clippers Jerseys Cheap Lakers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Cheap Mavericks Jerseys Cheap Rockets Jerseys Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys ' ' '