DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Top-ranked Serena Williams had little trouble
joining sister Venus, in the Dubai Championships semifinals on Thursday.
Don Barclay Jersey . Serena, playing her
first tournament since a fourth-round loss at the Australian Open, had little
trouble bypassing fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2 in the
quarterfinals. The only blip in Williams game came when she lost serve in a
tentatively played fifth game in the first set. "She was the better player
tonight," Jankovic said. "Way better. "I just played a bad match on my terms."
The only drama in the 76-minute match came in the final game with Jankovic
serving. The umpire, Kader Nouni of France, told Jankovic she was serving too
fast and then too slow, when taking more than the 25 seconds allotted. Williams
was briefly brought into the fray when Jankovic made note that Williams often
took more than the 25 seconds allowed to serve. After the match, the players
conversed at the net and both reported they left the court on good terms. "I
told her at the end, Look, I didnt mean anything. Im sorry if I played slow,"
Williams said. "She was like, No, it was more like they say (I) play too fast
and then too slow. She said she couldnt get it right. "I was like, Look, are we
cool because Im cool with you?" In that final game, Jankovic initially rebounded
from love-40 before Williams won on a fourth match point with a scorching
forehand passing shot. Williams will play Alize Cornet of France in the
semifinals. Cornet scored a 7-5, 6-3 win over Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
Venus Williams reached her fourth Dubai semifinal with a 6-3, 7-5 win over
qualifier Flavia Pennetta of Italy. Williams, who won this title in 2009 and
2010, had to serve for the match twice in the second set. "She just keeps
fighting," Williams said of Pennetta. "She stays relevant. Thats what she does
really well. I have to give her credit for that." Serving at 5-4 in the second
set, Williams missed out on a match point when Pennetta hit a forehand
crosscourt winner to bring the score to deuce. Four points later and Pennetta
broke serve to even the score at 5-5. After Pennetta dropped serve in the 11th
game Williams had a second chance to close out the match. Initially, Williams
fell behind 0-40. On a second match point Pennetta popped a return long to
concede the win. Williams will play eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, the 2011
Dubai champion, in Fridays semifinals. Wozniacki had little trouble dispatching
27th-ranked Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-1, 6-2. "That was really pleasing, and I
always know that Sorana can be a tricky opponent," Wozniacki said. "I felt like
I served well and I put the pressure on her and played the way I wanted to play
today." Although not guaranteed, Venus Williams wasnt opposed to thinking ahead
to the possibility of an all-Williams final on Saturday. "It would be
fantastic," Venus said. "But we both have to get there."
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. -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the
accelerator instead.FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Coach Mike Smith took his first steps
to help the Atlanta Falcons return to NFL relevance, firing defensive line coach
Ray Hamilton and offensive line coaches Pat Hill and Paul Dunn on Monday night.
One day after ending a 4-12 season, Smith said the team must get tougher to win
the line of scrimmage on both sides of the line. Smith said that defensive
co-ordinator Mike Nolan, offensive co-ordinator Dirk Koetter and special teams
co-ordinator Keith Armstrong will return next season. The firings of Hamilton,
Hill and Dunn were hardly surprising as Atlantas offensive and defensive lines
rarely won game-long battles on the line of scrimmage. Quarterback Matt Ryan was
sacked a career-high 44 times. Poor play on the defensive line led to Atlanta
entering Week 17 ranked last in third-down efficiency, 29th in scoring and 28th
in total yards. General manager Thomas Dimitroff lamented "missed assessments"
on acquiring some players and letting others go and how those moves affected the
entire team. When training camp started, neither Smith nor Dimitroff envisioned
holding a news conference to discuss anything worse than a loss in the Super
Bowl after the Falcons narrowly lost the NFC title game last season. But
injuries to star wideout Julio Jones, left tackle Sam Baker and defensive end
Kroy Biermann were too much to overcome. Sean Weatherspoon, supposed to be
Atlantas only every-down linebacker, was hurt and limited to just seven games.
Receiver Roddy White and running back Steven Jackson played injured most of the
season. "We believe we have a talented football team here and that we need to
make adjustments," Dimitroff said, ";but I really, truly believe we have the
nucleus and the coach and the leadership to turn this around quickly within our
off-season.
Julius Peppers Jersey. Though Smith and
Dimitroff wouldnt cite specific players, they didnt dispute that the offensive
line was a disaster. Peter Konz was overmatched as a starting centre and
starting right guard. The right tackle position remained in flux all season, and
Lamar Holmes was inconsistent at left tackle. No discrepancy was worse than in
the 21-20 season-ending home loss to Carolina. Ryan was sacked nine times and
hit 14 others. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was sacked once and hit once.
Ryan, as hes done throughout his six-year career, refused to blame his teammates
for the poor protection. The two-time Pro Bowl QB, who signed a new five-year,
$103.75 million contract last summer that guarantees $59 million, was more
disturbed about his interception that Panthers cornerback Melvin White returned
for a 3-yard touchdown. "Its the end of the season, and Im healthy, but we all
have to improve," Ryan said. "I have to play better. We have to play better up
front. We have to play better on the outside. Collectively, we didnt play good
enough to win." Atlantas defensive line wasnt much better. Releasing veteran end
John Abraham last March proved to be a bad decision after he put up big numbers
for Arizona. His replacement, free agent acquisition Osi Umenyiora, was unable
to hold onto the role he wanted as an every-down end. But Smith and Dimitroff
were proud of the performances of rookie cornerback Desmond Trufant, a
first-round draft pick, and rookie linebacker Paul Worrilow, an undrafted free
agent.
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