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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.Glen Rice Heat Jersey . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Dion Waiters Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/Goran-Dragic-City-Edition-Jersey/ Tim Hardaway Jersey . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Meyers Leonard Heat Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position.SAN DIEGO -- Eric Hosmer stood in the middle of the field, holding up a trophy. He hopes to do it again with the Kansas City Royals this fall.Hosmer and Salvador Perez homered off former Kansas City teammate Johnny Cueto during a six-pitch span in the second inning, Hosmer added an RBI single to become MVP of the All-Star Game and the American League beat the Nationals 4-2 Tuesday night for its fourth straight win.If the defending champion Royals reach the World Series for the third straight year, they will start at home, sweet, home once again.Hopefully this is something we can all rally upon for the second half and find a way to use that home-field advantage, Hosmer said.David Ortiz found himself in the middle of the most touching moment at Petco Park, embraced by his AL teammates near first base after exiting his final All-Star Game. The popular Big Papi plans to retire at 40 after this season with Boston.Kris Bryant of the Cubs led the parade of sparkling young talent with a first-inning home run. The Yankees Dellin Betances flashed his 100 mph heat, and Astros reliever Will Harris came on to throw a called third strike past Cardinals rookie Aledmys Diaz on a 3-2 pitch on the outside corner with the bases loaded to end the eighth.Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera pitched a hitless sixth for the AL, which will open the Series at home for the 11th time in 14 years since the All-Star winner has been used to determine the hosts for Games 1 and 2.Kansas City became baseball royalty last fall, bursting to a 2-0 lead over the New York Mets at Kauffman Stadium, where Cueto pitched a two-hitter in the second game. The Royals won in five games for their first title since 1985.This year, Kansas City is languishing at 45-43, seven games off the AL Central lead and in the middle of the wild-card race.We know how much that home-field advantage helped us, Hosmer said. It just brings that sense of comfort to the team and gives you a jumpstart for the whole Series.The team with home field has won the World Series six of the last seven times and 24 of the past 30.Clevelands Corey Kluber pitched a 1-2-3 second inning for the win, and Zach Britton induced Nolan Arenados game-ending, double-play grounder for the save as the AL cut its deficit to 43-42 with two ties. The NL has outscored the AL overall, 360-359.Ortiz wore spikes with gold-colored bottoms and matching batting gloves to mark his 10th All-Star selection and delivered the AL batting order to umpires at home plate.He gave a pregame pep talk to his teammates, hit a smash down the first-base line that Anthony Rizzo snagged to rob him of a potential RBI double in the first and walked against Jose Fernandez in the third.When Edwin Encarnacion came out to pinch run for him, Ortiz waved to the crowd and then spent his AL teammates came out of the dugout to exchange hugs as the crowd of 42,386 rose in tribute.I was supposed to hit a home run in my second at-bat. My boy told me he was going to throw me a fastball, and the first pitch was a changeup, Ortiz said.Then 3-2 he threw me a slider and Im like, `Are you trying to break my back? But he said it was the catchers fault.Fernandez admitted, I couldnt believe that I was actually pitching to him. We both lookked at each other and smiled.dddddddddddde signed the jersey I brought for him, the 23-year-old Miami Marlins ace said.The All-Star Game returned to San Diego for the first time since 1992 at Jack Murphy Stadium. Just before this first pitch, commissioner Rob Manfred joined Rod Carew, his family and the family of late Padres great Tony Gwynn and named the batting titles after the two Hall of Famers, giving Gwynn the NL honor and Carew the AL championship.Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer two years ago at age 54.Sailors dressed in white lined the foul lines and outfield warning tracks for the national anthems. The Tenors, a British Columbia-based group, changed an O Canada lyric to Were all brothers and sisters. All lives matter to the great, and one held up a sign reading All Lives Matter.Randy Jones threw out the ceremonial first pitch and former Padres All-Star closer Trevor Hoffman helped open, bringing the game ball to the mound from the bullpen accompanied by AC/DCs Hells Bells.With an NL ballpark hosting for the second year in a row in a streak of at least four, the AL wore white uniforms, hit last and used the Padres clubhouse on the first-base side. Ball boys in retro-style mustard-and-mud Padres uniforms lent a San Diego feel to Petco, which opened in 2004.There was a home run on the games fourth pitch for the second straight year; Bryant connected on a 96 mph Chris Sale fastball with two outs as hitters swung early in the count to beat the shadows creeping in from the left-field corner in the late-afternoon start.Bryant was part of an all-Cubs infield -- the first starting infield quartet from a single team since the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals.I think a lot of us were looking first pitch, said Bryant, who played college ball for the University of San Diego. A lot of pitchers are coming into the game trying to light up the radar gun a bit.That was the highlight for the NL Central-leading Cubs, whose fan base was pumped up by a fast start and dreams of the teams first title since 1908.Mike Trout, the All-Star MVP in 2014 and `15, singled in the first for a five-All-Star Game hitting streak -- only Mickey Mantle, Joe Morgan and Dave Winfield (seven each) and Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Nellie Fox (six apiece) strung together more.The lead was short-lived, with Hosmer and Perez going deep for a 3-1 lead in the second, sandwiched around Mookie Betts single. Cueto was hard to miss in the center of the field, wearing lime green and orange spikes.This morning I got up and didnt feel well. That is not an excuse, Cueto said. I just left two pitches up, and that was the story.Hosmer, the first Kansas City player to homer in an All-Star Game since Bo Jackson in 1989, made it 4-1 in the third against Fernandez with a one-hopper off Bryants left arm that bounced into left field for an RBI single. Marcell Ozuna cut the gap with a run-scoring single off Aaron Sanchez in the fourth.When it was over, Hosmer said he was giving the midnight black truck he earned with the MVP award to his dad, Michael, who stood off to the side.So he can stop stealing all my cars, Eric said. ' ' '