LONDON -- Jana Novotna was in the twilight of her career when Venus Williams was just a rookie.Twenty years later, perhaps things havent changed all that much.She doesnt look very different, Novotna, a three-time Wimbledon finalist and champion in 1998, told ESPN.com. She hasnt changed her style at all. She was always a great mover, and thats what shes doing so well again now.Although Williams, 36, hasnt been to a Grand Slam championship match since the Wimbledon final in 2009, that will change come Saturday if she can get past Angelique Kerber in Thursdays semifinals.If Venus escapes Kerber, the reigning Australian Open champ, a Centre Court reunion looms with sister Serena in Saturdays finale. The world No. 1, Serena has played 13 Grand Slam finals since Venus last made one (the aforementioned 09 final here).Kerber will be joined by No. 50 Elena Vesnina as hopeful foils to the all-sister showdown.You always have a shot when youve made it into the semifinals of a major, Tennis Channel commentator and multiple Grand Slam titlist Tracy Austin told ESPN.com. But this outcome should depend on Serena. If she continues to play the way shes been doing since late in the first set of her [fourth-round] Svetlana Kuznetsova match, it could be a very rough day for Vesnina.It might seem that Vesnina is an outlier, but she has championship pedigree. A two-time Wimbledon runner-up in doubles, she has won two major titles with partner Ekaterina Makarova (2013 French Open and 2014 US Open).At 29, Vesnina is enjoying the greatest run of her career at a time when shes rebuilt a ranking that spiraled out of control and landed her out of the top 100 at the end of last year.Im really happy that it didnt break me up, Vesnina said after her quarterfinal upset of No. 19 seed Dominika Cibulkova. I think the difficult times, every single player has to go through it because it makes you better; it makes you stronger.Vesnina has a good serve. She ranks second behind Serena in the ace race here (although the 50-27 gap is huge). Vesnina has posted slightly better numbers than Serena in two important categories, winning 55 percent of second-serve points (to Serenas 50 percent) and saving slightly more break points, 68 percent (21-of-31) to 65 percent (11-of-17).She has a really good grass-court game, Serena said. She has a really good serve, and shes also very aggressive. She comes to the net. I know her game really, really well. Its good to play someones game that you know. Ill be ready for it.Taking a template from Kerbers upset of Serena in the Australian Open final, Vesnina said shes not afraid to engage in rallies with the 34-year-old Serena and pounce on the opportunities. Vesnina isnt intimidated.Thats a dream semifinal, Vesnina said. I think nothing can be better than playing against Serena in semifinal on Centre Court at Wimbledon. Its special.Kerber is a different story altogether. The No. 4 seed, she went into the tennis champions equivalent of sugar shock after she won the first Grand Slam event of the year. She flared briefly in Miami and Stuttgart but then struggled through the rest of the clay season.Kerber has played well here, capping her revival with a quality win over No. 5 Simona Halep. Kerber has also been to a quarterfinal and a semifinal in previous years at Wimbledon.The good news for Venus is that Kerber, while a lefty, has a vulnerable serve. The German was broken six times in her win against Halep.I think because we are both great return players, it was not so easy to serve, Kerber said.Venus will recognize that as a rationalization and attempt to do the same thing she did so effectively against Carla Suarez Navarro: attack serve and take time away from an opponent who likes to counterpunch from the baseline.I know that my serve should be a little bit better against Venus, Kerber said. But I have tomorrow one more day of practice. I will serve a lot tomorrow, I think.Kerber leads her head-to-head encounters against Venus 3-2. However, the American won the only meeting theyve had since the 2012 US Open, a three-set, hard-court battle in Montreal two years ago.Of course, that was before Kerber became a Grand Slam champ, but also before Venus reclaimed her rightful place as a top Grand Slam contender.It doesnt feel foreign at all, said Venus, who has returned to the semifinals here for the first time in seven years. The good part is I always felt like I had the game. This is always a plus, when you know you have the game. So you just have to keep working until things fall into place. Asics Nimbus Womens Shoes . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. 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Buy Asics Gt ii .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win.Barcelona welcome Valencia to the Nou Camp on Sunday - live on Sky Sports 3 HD from 7.15pm - looking to get their La Liga title challenge back on track. Luis Enriques side have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, exiting the Champions League to Atletico Madrid and seeing their lead at the top of the table cut to one point after defeats to Real Sociedad and Real Madrid.They remain favourites in the league and face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final, and while Real Madrid kept the pressure on in La Liga with a 5-1 victory over Getafe on Saturday, Enrique believes his side will put their difficult run behind them when Valencia come calling. We have to lift ourselves up and focus on what we have ahead of us, he told reporters. And that means two very attractive competitions that we are still involved in.We have to forget the past. It wont be easy, and we are going to need the fans support more than ever. Its at difficult times like these that we need them most.The players are fine, theyre fully recovered. Of course the disappointment has been hard to swallow, but theyre professionals. Theres still a lot to look forward to. Not many teams can say that they have won the league and cup double two years in a row. Lionel Messi was largely on the periphery as Barca lost to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Theres a world ahead of us - six league games. We need to perform well, avoid making mistakes, be effective and play good football. This is not our best spell of the season, and we just have to accept that.Aside from recent injuries to Rafinha, Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen, Enrique can choose from a full squad. Luis Enrique took full responsibility for Barcelonas Champions League defeat Meanwhile, Valencia are coming off an impressive 2-1 victory over Sevilla and head coach Pako Ayestaran believes his side have an opportunity against Sundays opponents.ddddddddddddell try to make sure that their possession is not so high, but we know that we will spend a long time without the ball and we have to know how to manage those moments, he said. Heres how Barcelona lost against Real Sociedad last time out in La Liga It is an opportunity, not a risk. The mental factor always has an influence. With Barcelona it is always tough, but it is important that we continue to grow from the line we have marked out for ourselves.There are aspects that you adapt depending on the opposition, but we are clear about the team are going and where we are growing. Cheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Washington Capitals have avoided long losing streaks the last 1 1/2 seasons, and did it again Saturday night.Marcus Johansson scored twice and the Capitals beat Vancouver 5-2 to avoid their first three-game skid since February 2015.Weve got good leadership, it shows all the time and I think they recognized what the message was and I thought we played really well, coach Barry Trotz said.T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Karl Alzner also scored for Washington, coming off consecutive losses to the New York Rangers and Edmonton. Philip Grubauer made 23 saves in his second start this season.We had to bounce back from the last couple of games and tonight we executed in all the areas of the game -- penalty kill, power play -- and it was nice to get the win, Grubauer said.Bo Horvat and Jannik Hansen scored for the Canucks, who lost their fifth straight (0-4-1) since opening the season with four wins. Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots in his fifth start of the season.Vancouver had been shutout in the previous two games, but Hansen scored with 6 seconds left in the first period for their first goal since the third period against Anaheim last Sunday.To get a couple of goals at least should give us a little bit of confidence, said Horvat, who scored his fourth of the season in the second period.The Canucks came out aggressive in the first period, but it was the Caps who opened scoring with two quick goals. After a failed Vancouver clearing attempt, Johansson tipped in Matt Niskanens shot from the point with two minutes left. Fifteen seconds later, Evgeny Kuznetsov sent a pass from behind Vancouvers net to Wilson, who scored on wrist shot.Hansen, who replaced Loui Eriksson on the line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin, scored with Grubauer way out of position in the closing seconds for the Canucks first opening-period goal at home this season.I thought the (top) line was better tonight, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. They had a little bit more jump. Thats a good step for us.However, the question still remains what to do with Eriksson. The Swedish winger was Vancouvers big offseason acquisition and hes yet to find the back of the net this season.I think (Loui) is feeling pressure to perform, Desjardins said. I think he feels responsible lots of night where hes not creating stuff. I havent seemed to find a good match for him yet on a line. He hasnt seemed to be real comfortable in a spot yet. Well keep working that.Washington appeared to have scored an ugly one early in the second, but Vancouver successfully challenged on goalie interference. The Caps got their goal at 8:58 while on the power play, as the rebound of a shot by Oshie went to Johansson for a tap-in to make it 3-1.Vancouver cut into the lead when Sven Baertschis shot hit the post and ricocheted to Horvat for the easy tap-in at the doorstep with 2:43 left in the second..With Lars Eller off for hooking, the Canucks pressed for the tying goal in the third, but Grubauer made an incredible save on Brandon Sutters point-blank shot from the slot.Oshie put the game out of reach with just over two minutes left. His sharp wrist shot beat Markstrom high on the glove side. Alzner added some insurance with an empty-netter.Game notes Capitals star Alex Ovechkin had a four-game goal-scoring streak snapped. ... Canucks F Jayson Megna, who sustained an upper-body injury against Edmonton on Friday, is expected to miss at least 10 days. ... The Canucks and Capitals meet once more this season, on Dec. 11 in Washington.UP NEXTCapitals: At Calgary on Sunday night in the third game of a four-game trip to Canada.Canucks: At Montreal on Wednesday night in the opener of a six-game, nine-day trip. Wholesale Seahawks Jerseys . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. Authentic Seahawks Jerseys . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. http://www.cheapseattleseahawksjerseys.com/ . 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The Cardinal hope to have him available after a bye week for their Sept. 17 contest against USC.Hes making progress, its just not as quick as we had hoped, Shaw said.Love racked up 226 rushing yards, 250 receivving yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman in 2015, and his role is expected to increase significantly in 2016 with defenses keying on McCaffrey.ddddddddddddRedshirt freshman Cameron Scarlett will fill the spot behind McCaffrey in the Stanford backfield. The 220-pounder, who is the Cardinals largest running back, will see his first college action against Kansas State.Youve got to crack the egg sometime, and thatll be this Friday night for [Scarlett], Shaw said. Hell have a relatively limited role based on the game plan, but Im excited for him. Cheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '