MELBOURNE, Australia - It wasnt until Serena Williams forced herself to relax,
and not focus too intently on a milestone Grand Slam title, that she
rediscovered the art of winning the biggest events in tennis.
Kelvin Beachum Jaguars Jersey .Now shes on
the verge of a 19th major championship after beating 19-year-old Madison Keys
7-6 (5), 6-2 on Thursday and setting up an Australian Open final against
long-time rival Maria Sharapova.Williams has won all five Australian Open finals
she has contested and won her last 15 matches against No. 2-ranked Sharapova, a
five-time major winner who will be playing her fourth final at Melbourne
Park.While the 33-year-old Williams is peerless among active players, there was
a period last year when she wanted so desperately to win her 18th major that it
proved too distracting. After winning the U.S. Open in 2013, she lost in the
fourth round at the Australian Open, the second round at the French and the
third round at Wimbledon.I was so hyped on getting to 18 and I lost every Grand
Slam early. I didnt make it to any quarterfinals, Williams said. Then after
Wimbledon I decided to just — not necessarily not care — but just relax. It all
kind of came back for me after that ... and I think its been working.That
approach helped her win the U.S. Open and, if it works again on Saturday against
2008 champion Sharapova, it will help Williams move above Chris Evert and
Martina Navratilova on the list of major winners. She would be behind only
Steffi Graf, with 22 titles, among champions in the Open era.The statistics
point to another win for Williams, but shes not getting ahead of herself.Again.
I have to win. Everyones expecting me to win. But well see, Williams said. Shes
playing unbelievable. She was almost out of the tournament and has been playing
better every single match. Its impressive.Williams, who has struggled with a
cold for a week, said shed benefit from a tough workout in the all-American
semifinal against Keys, who pounded her with heavy groundstrokes and a big serve
for the first set.Keys, playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, saved seven
match points on serve in a penultimate game that lasted more than 11 minutes.
Williams closed with an ace in the next game to reach her 23rd major final.She
pushed me really hard the first set ... and I had to really dig deep mentally to
get through that, Williams said. It was a little frustrating. I had like nine or
10 match points and couldnt close it out. That doesnt happen so much. She played
like she didnt have anything to lose.Sharapova, who beat No. 10-seeded Ekaterina
Makarova 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Russian semifinal, has won only two of her 18 career
meetings with Williams — both in 2004. She started 2015 with a title at the
Brisbane International and, ever since saving two match points in her
second-round match against Russian qualifier Alexandra Panova, has been growing
in confidence.I think my confidence should be pretty high going into a final of
a Grand Slam no matter who Im facing and whether Ive had a terrible record, to
say the least, against someone, Sharapova said. It doesnt matter. I got there
for a reason. I belong in that spot. I will do everything I can to get the
title.In mens play, Andy Murray reached the Australian Open final for the fourth
time, and is desperate to end a title drought Down Under.The sixth-seeded Murray
beat No. 7 Tomas Berdych 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 in a semifinal laced with heavy
hitting, flashes of anger and profanities.Murray lost finals here to Roger
Federer in 2010 and Novak Djokovic in 11 and 13. Since then, he has won the U.S.
Open and Wimbledon to end long title droughts for British men. Hell get another
chance to claim the Australian title on Sunday, against the winner of Fridays
semifinal between Djokovic and defending champion Stan Wawrinka.Tension was high
before the match because Murrays former coach, Dani Vallverdu, is now working
for Berdych.You wanted there to be tension, Murray said. A lot was made of Dani,
my ex-coach, working with him. I felt it was a little unfair and unnecessary.
This is sport, theres more to life than sport. It was a little unfair and
created extra tension.An aggravated Murray bristled when Berdych spoke a few
words to him after the first-set tiebreaker, and yelled profanities throughout
the match. TV cameras appeared to show his fiancee, Kim Sears, uttering
expletives in support.Murray said the emotional reactions were understandable
given the hype leading into the match.
Dante Fowler Jr Jaguars Jersey . Chandler
Stephenson added a pair of goals and Connor Gay chipped in with a single for
Regina (21-17-5), which stayed in control with the first six goals of the game.
Brandon Allen Jersey . It was the 18-year-old
from Toronto who got on the scoreboard in a losing cause as Tottenham defeated
Toronto 3-2 in a soccer friendly Wednesday on the strength of an 85th-minute
goal by Andros Townsend. Andrew Wiedeman and Hamilton had scored second-half
goals to pull the home side even before a sellout crowd of 22,591 on a warm
evening at BMO Field.Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Kemba Walkers layup
with 0.3 seconds to play helped the Charlotte Hornets hold off a late New York
Knicks surge and end their 10-game losing streak with a thrilling 103-102
victory on Friday. Carmelo Anthony gave the Knicks a 102-101 lead off a
wide-open 3 from the left side with 40.7 seconds to play. After each team missed
a jump shot, the Hornets took a timeout with four seconds to play after Marvin
Williams rebounded Anthonys miss. Coming out of the timeout, Walker raced up to
the top of the arc to receive the inbound pass and darted through the key,
laying the ball off the glass and into the net for the deciding basket as the
buzzer sounded.
Paul Posluszny Jaguars Jersey. Gerald
Henderson finished with a season-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, Al
Jefferson had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Lance Stephenson also scored 16
points for Charlotte, which won its first game since Nov. 14 at Phoenix. Anthony
had a game-high 32 points, while Cole Aldrich and Tim Hardaway Jr. supplied 14
and 13 points, respectively, off the bench in the Knicks seventh straight loss.
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