Wimbledon, Women's Tennis | featured news

Seventeen months after a life-threatening blood clot in her lungs almost ended her glittering tennis career, Williams blotted out the mental and physical scars to climb back into the grand slam winner's circle by snuffing out Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 5-7 6-2.

Williams, seeking a fifth Wimbledon singles title, defeated Petra Kvitova, 6-2, 7-5, to advance to the semifinals.

During her walk to the locker room following a victory that sent her into Wimbledon’s final eight on Monday, Serena Williams was engulfed by a horde of fans who snapped photos, begged for autographs and clamored for a glimpse of the most dominant player of her generation.

The shot that doomed Maria Sharapova on what was a manic middle Monday whizzed past at 108 miles per hour, a first-rate second serve that crowned her third Round of 16 exit at Wimbledon in six years. This loss, though — this was different.

Serena Williams hit 23 aces, held every service game and barely escaped an upset bid by Zheng Jie, winning 6-7 (5), 6-2, 9-7 Saturday in the third round at Wimbledon.

American teenager Sloane Stephens says maturity is making her more of a threat, and she's into the third round at Wimbledon. Later, seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki lost 5-7 7-6 6-4 to Austrian Tamira Paszek in a disrupted first-round clash.

Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion, lost in the first round Monday to Elena Vesnina of Russia, 6-1, 6-3.

Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam title Saturday by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final. Kvitova was playing in her first major final, but it was three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova that showed her nerves. The 2004 Wimbledon champion double-faulted six times, including twice to get broken to 4-2 in the first set. The 21-year-old Kvitova is the first left-handed woman to win the Wimbledon title since Martina Navratilova in 1990.

The women’s final at Wimbledon Saturday will lack the world’s No. 1 player, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, reduced to a competitive footnote by her early ouster.

Maria Sharapova crushed Dominika Cibulkova, advancing to a Wimbledon semifinal for the first time in four years. It took Sharapova less than an hour to beat Cibulkova, who upset Caroline Wozniacki, 6-1, 6-1. Afterward, Cibulkova couldn’t exit Centre Court quickly enough.