LONDON -- Venus Williams sighed at the reporters question.
Nike Vapormax Nere Scontate .After getting to her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2009, and first at any Grand Slam tournament since a year later, she was asked what she learned in recent times, while dealing with an energy-sapping disease and a series of earlier-than-usual exits from majors.Its hard to say just one lesson, she began. Its easy to be afraid; you have to let fear go. Another lesson is you just have to believe in yourself. You just have to. Theres no way around it. Youve got to believe in yourself. No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to, every time.Williams never lost that belief, the self-confidence that she still could compete at the highest level, the certainty that it made no sense to give up, to retire from the tour.The good part is, I always felt like I had the game. This is always a plus, when you know you have the game, said Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam titles, including five at the All England Club, but none since 2008. So you just have to keep working until things fall into place.At age 36, they have.On Friday at Wimbledon, Williams will meet No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany for a berth in the final. Kerber has won three of their previous five matchups.The American is the oldest woman to participate in a major semifinal since Martina Navratilova did it at Wimbledon in 1994 at age 37.Its nice to see, because she puts in the work, said David Witt, Williams coach. She hasnt been back, but not because of her play. Any given tournament, shes capable of beating anybody in the tournament. Its just a matter of winning six, seven matches in a row and keeping your level of play at a high level.Someone who knows all about that is Williams younger sister, No. 1-seeded Serena, who faces 50th-ranked Elena Vesnina in Fridays other semifinal. If Vesnina -- who has never so much as taken a set off Serena in five previous meetings -- were to pull off the upset, she would be the first unseeded woman to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open era, which began in 1968.The 29-year-old Russian had never been past the fourth round at a major before this week.Serena, meanwhile, is bidding for her seventh Wimbledon championship and, of even more significance, her 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall, which would equal Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era (Margaret Court holds the all-time mark of 24).Serena has come close to drawing even with Graf before: At the U.S. Open last September, she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals while aiming for a calendar-year Grand Slam; at the Australian Open in January, she lost to Kerber in the final; at the French Open in June, she lost to Garbine Muguruza in the final.Way back in 1999, the Williams sisters both reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Now here they are, almost 17 full years later, both in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 11th time. On all 10 previous occasions, one or the other took home the trophy.If both win Thursday, they would play each other on Saturday in what would be the siblings ninth meeting in a Grand Slam final and fifth at Wimbledon.For Serena, it would mean shes participated in the last three major title matches, seven of the past eight.For Venus, it would be her first Grand Slam final since 2009, when she lost at Wimbledon to -- guess who? -- Serena.With everything shes been through, I think its built a ton of character in her, Serena said, and in me, just by being around her.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Nike Vapormax Scontate . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos.
Vapormax Uomo Saldi . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3.
http:///...scontate-outlet.html . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles has been ruled out for Sundays game in Indianapolis after he experienced swelling in his surgically repaired right knee this week.Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Friday that Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West will handle running back duties against the Colts. The Chiefs recently traded backup Knile Davis to the Green Bay Packers and have no plans on elevating Darrin Reaves from the practice squad.Knee was up and down and we just backed him off here and see if we can get that thing to settle down, said Reid, who did not say whether inflammation will cause Charles to miss extended time.Charles tore the ACL in his right knee in Week 5 last season and returned to the field for the first time on Oct. 2 in Pittsburgh. He carried nine times two weeks ago in Oakland, and it appeared that he would slowly ramp up his workload, before the swelling limited him to one carry last weekend.The Chiefs have been taking their time workinng Charles back into game shape, so the setback to the four-time Pro Bowl running back is particularly discouraging.
Vapormax Flyknit Scontate. But having Ware, a breakout star, and the versatile West in the backfield has taken some of the sting out of his slow recovery.You have to be smart with it, Reid said. He might take a step back and come forward with something better. Thats what you try to do. Were never going to put him out there if its not right. Thats just not going to happen. It doesnt matter who the player is, thats how we roll.Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz and cornerback Phillip Gaines are expected to play. Schwartz has been dealing with an ankle injury, and Gaines missed last weeks game with a knee injury.Fellow cornerback D.J. White had already been ruled out with a broken hand.---AP NFL website:
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