Stowe, Vt. – One week after winning her fourth Wimbledon title, Venus Williams returned home to win another big match for herself, her sister Serena and her country. But it wasn’t easy.
Williams overcame a terrible second set to beat Nadia Petrova in the semifinals 7-6 (8-6), 0-6, 6-4 on Saturday to tie the Fed Cup match between the U.S. and Russia at one. Anna Chakvetadze of Russia dominated Vania King 6-1, 6-3.
Williams will play Chakvetadze, and U.S. captain Zina Garrison said she is leaning toward sending Meilen Tu against Petrova in the reverse singles today. If necessary, a deciding doubles match will follow.
The winner meets the winner of the other semifinal between Italy and France for the championship in September.
The win “takes a lot of pressure off my teammates,” Williams said. With no other player on the team ranked higher than the 43rd-ranked Tu, Williams was being counted on to win two matches.
TENNIS
Moya gets upset in Swedish Open
Nicolas Almagro will play David Ferrer in the Swedish Open final today in an all-Spanish matchup in Bastad.
In the semifinals, Almagro upset fourth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, and the second-seeded Ferrer routed Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-2, 6-1.
Paul-Henri Mathieu will face Andreas Seppi in the final of the Swiss Open today in Gstaad.
Mathieu overcame qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4, and Seppi beat wild card Igor Andreev 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to reach the final.
Fourth seeded Fabrice Santoro defeated Wesley Moodie 7-6 (2), 6-3, to set up the first all-French final in the 31-year history of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I. Santoro will face No. 5 seed Nicolas Mahut, who beat Dick Norman, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2, in the opening semifinal earlier Saturday.
Before the semifinals, Pete Sampras was the highlight during inductions of this year’s Hall of Fame class that included Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Sven Davidson and Russ Adams during a ceremony on the Hall’s grass courts.
ARENA LEAGUE FOOTBALL
SaberCats, Destroyers in ArenaBowl
Mark Grieb threw for 291 yards and six touchdowns, and the San Jose SaberCats advanced to their third ArenaBowl in six seasons with a 61-49 victory over the defending champion Chicago Rush (13-5) in San Jose, Calif.
Ben Nelson caught four TD passes and James Roe had 10 catches for 108 yards for the top-seeded SaberCats (15-3), who won their 12th straight game and completed an unbeaten home season.
Quarterback Matt Nagy threw for five touchdowns and ran for two more, and the Columbus Destroyers (10-9) held off a late rally by the Georgia Force (15-3) to win the National Conference with a 66-56 victory in Atlanta and advanced to the ArenaBowl to face the San Jose SaberCats.
FOOTNOTES
Miami’s Chambers arrested for DWI
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chris Chambers was arrested early Saturday on charges of driving while impaired and speeding in Charlotte, N.C.
Chambers, 28, was arrested by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police around 2:30 a.m., several miles south of downtown, said police Capt. Lisa Goelz. He faces charges of driving while impaired, speeding and reckless driving, she said. He was later released on a $1,750 bond.
Roy Jones Jr. won a 12-round, unanimous decision against previously undefeated Anthony Hanshaw, capturing the vacant IBC light heavyweight title in Biloxi, Miss.
Steve Luevano (33-1) floored Nicky Cook five times on the way to an 11th-round knockout to capture the WBO featherweight title in London.
Jessica Hardy won the women’s 50-meter freestyle, and Nick Brunelli upset world champion Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner in the men’s race at the Janet Evans Invitational in Los Angeles. Hardy, who specializes in the sprint breaststroke events, finished first in 25.39 seconds – .014 seconds ahead of Brooke Bishop. Brunelli won the men’s 50 in 22.49, and Wildman-Tobriner touched in 22.55.
Graham Gill scored five goals in a 17-5 rout by the Los Angeles Riptide (6-2) over the Denver Outlaws (4-4) in Major League Lacrosse action in Carson, Calif.
Oklahoma State wide receiver Artrell Woods could be released from the hospital in the next few days after having surgery on his back, which he injured Friday, a team trainer said.
Ex-NHL player and general manager John Ferguson Sr. died of prostate cancer. He was 68.
