BARONS AT GRAND RAPIDS
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Radio: KXXY-FM 96.1, Jim Byers play-by-play.
Scouting report: Two former NHL players the Barons signed earlier this week will make their OKC debuts in the opener of a three-game road trip. On Sunday, the Barons signed forward Jonathan Cheechoo, a former NHL All-Star who once led the NHL in goals. On Monday, the Barons signed defenseman Brett Clark, who has played 681 NHL games, including all 82 games last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. ... The Barons (43 points) are in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot. Grand Rapids (50 points) currently is the No. 2 seed, leading the Midwest Division. ... Gustav Nyquist (40 points) is fourth in the league in scoring and might win the AHL scoring title if he remains with the Griffins all season since the top three scorers are now in the NHL. ... Grand Rapids’ Joakim Andersson is the reigning AHL Player of the Week after scoring seven points in two games last week. ... Grand Rapids goalie Peter Mrazek is 13-5-1 with a 2.33 goalsagainst average.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams’ dominating run at the majors is over. American teenager Sloane Stephens is headed to the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Williams injured her back in the second set, hampering her serve, and the 19-year-old Stephens kept her composure in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory on Wednesday.
It was the first loss since Aug. 17 for the 15-time Grand Slam winner, ending a run of 20 consecutive wins. She hadn’t lost a match at a Grand Slam tournament since the French Open, where the first-round exit sparked a resurgence in the second half of 2012 that included titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championship.
After winning her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Stephens next plays defending champion Victoria Azarenka.
With her most famous fan sitting in the crowd wearing a shirt reminding her to keep calm, the topranked Azarenka overcame some early jitters to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-1 in the earlier quarterfinal match in Rod Laver Arena.
After dropping serve in a long fourth game which went to deuce 10 times, Azarenka recovered to dominate the rest of the match against Kuznetsova, a two-time major winner who was floating dangerously in the draw with a No. 75 ranking as she recovers from a knee injury.
Azarenka’s American rapper friend, Redfoo, returned from a concert in Malaysia to attend Wednesday’s quarterfinal match.
Wearing a red sleeveless T-shirt that read “Keep Calm and Bring Out the Bottles,” the name of his next single, Redfoo stood, clapped and yelled “Come on, Vika!” during the tight first set.
Asked if it helped to have her No. 1 fan wearing a keep calm logo, Azarenka said “I was looking more at the part that says ‘Bring out the bottles.’ ”
Of her game, she added, “I’m just glad I could produce my good tennis when it was needed.”
Williams’ loss was a boost for Azarenka, who lost all five head-to-head meetings against the American in 2012 and is 1-11 in their career meetings.