Venus wins semis; eyes 50th WTA title
SAN FRANCISCO: Venus Williams will play for her 50th WTA title on Sunday in Stanford, in the tournament where she made her professional debut 22 years ago.
Williams defeated tenacious Alison Riske 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) to reach the championship match, where she’ll face third-seeded Briton Johanna Konta.
Konta, ranked 18th in the world, reached her first career WTA final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.
LOPEZ CLINCHES
FIRST TITLE ON CLAY GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND: Feliciano Lopez claimed his first claycourt title on Sunday with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Dutchman Robin Haase in the final in Gstaad.
Top seed Lopez broke Haase’s serve in the fifth game as he took the opening set and then fought back from 3-0 down in the second to wrap up a fifth ATP Tour title.
MONFILS REACHES WASHINGTON FINAL WASHINGTON: France’s Gael Monfils, seeking his first ATP crown outside Europe, and Ivo Karlovic advanced to the ATP and WTA Washington Open final in sweltering conditions Saturday.
The Frenchman, whose most recent title came in 2014, ripped ill German teen Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-0 in one hour.