Williams sisters have a play date
Serena and Venus set up an all- Williams semifinal in the Rogers Cup at Montreal.
The sisters advanced to their 26th career meeting Friday, both rallying to win their quarterfinal matches in the hard-court event. Serena beat Caroline Wozniacki, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, and Venus topped Carla Suarez Navarro, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The 32-year-old Serena has won the last five matches against 34-year-old Venus to take a 15-10 edge.
“I definitely don’t like playing her,” said Serena, No. 1 in the world for the 200th week in her career. “I think I’ve lost to her more than anyone on the tour, so it’s definitely not a fun match.
“She’s tough. She has a great serve. She runs every ball down. She has a great backhand. She hits winners off the forehand. She does everything well so it’s not an ideal matchup for anyone, to be honest.”
Venus, ranked 26th, last beat Serena in 2009 in Dubai.
At Toronto, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the Rogers Cup semifinals with another upset victory, and Roger Federer was extended to three sets for the second straight night.
Tsonga beat eighth-seeded Andy Murray, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, in the hard-court event. On Thursday, the 13th-seeded Frenchman knocked off topranked Novak Djokovic.
The second-seeded Federer beat fifth-seeded David Ferrer, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in the late match. On Thursday night, Federer edged Marin Cilic, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-4.
Federer will play Feliciano Lopez, a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 winner over sixth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
In the other quarterfinal, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat Kevin Anderson, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (6).
Canadian teen Brooke Mackenzie Henderson advanced to the U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinals Friday, beating UCLA’s Alison Lee, 1 up, at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y.
The 16-year-old Henderson, the low amateur in the U.S. Women’s Open, ended the match with a par halve on the par-four 18th. After Henderson won the par-three 16th with a par to take a 2-up lead, the 19-year-old Lee, from Valencia, cut it to one with a birdie win on the par-four 17th.
Henderson will face 16-year-old Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Ariz., a 5-and-4 winner over 21-year-old former Pepperdine player Grace Na of Alameda, Calif.
In the other semifinal, 16-year-old Kristen Gillman of Austin, Texas, will play 15-year-old Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach. Gillman rallied to beat 18year-old Su-Hyun Oh of Australia in 20 holes, and Andrea Lee topped 14-year-old Eunjeong Seong of South Korea, 2 and 1.
Inbee Park found a new putter — and her old touch.
The South Korean player took the secondround lead Friday in the Meijer LPGA Classic at Belmont, Mich., birdieing her first three holes en route to her second straight five-under 66.
Fourth-ranked Suzann Pettersen was a stroke back. The Norwegian player matched the course record with a 64.
South Korea’s Mirim Lee also shot 64 to reach eight under, and South Korea’s Amy Yang was fourth at seven under after a 67.
The U.S. national basketball team has added Rudy Gay, who helped them win a gold medal four years ago and asked to rejoin the team after a series of player withdrawals.
Curlin, a two-time horse of the year who retired as North America’s all-time leading money earner, led the class of inductees into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in Sarasota Springs, N.Y. Joining Curlin were: Alex Solis, an active jockey with 4,991 victories and the regular rider of 1986 Preakness winner and champion 3-year-old Snow Chief.
— Gary Jones, a winner of 1,465 races, 102 graded stakes and $52.6 million from 1974-96. Among his top horses were Hall of Famer Best Pal, turf champion Turkoman and Grade 1 winners Quiet American, Lakeway, Lightning Mandate and Radar Ahead.
Also named to the Hall were Lloyd Hughes, the first jockey to win the Preakness Stakes three times; Edward R. Bradley, who owned four Kentucky Derby winners, three Preakness winners and two Belmont Stakes winners; and Ashado, a twotime champion who won 12 of 21 lifetime starts.