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ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals of the WTA Championships by sweeping past Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. Williams, the defending champion, won all three matches in her group without dropping a set. Shes bidding for her fourth title in the elite, eight-women tournament. Earlier, Li Na outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 for her second victory in two matches and eight-seeded Angelique Kerber upset No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 to remain in contention for the semifinals. Radwanska was eliminated. Kerber went 0-3 last year in the tournament and this was her first win in the event. She will play Kvitova on Friday for a slot in the last four. Williams needed to win only a set to qualify and she breezed through the first despite fighting off three break points in the very first game. She quickly warmed up to overwhelm the fifth-seeded Kvitova, who won Wimbledon and the WTA title in 2011. Kvitova had to withdraw last year because of injury. "Something told me to hold serve in that game, and Im glad I did," Williams said. "Could have definitely changed things. I could still be out there. I really just dug deep and tried to hold. "When I play top players or a Grand Slam winner, such as Kvitova who has such a dangerous game, youve got to go in there knowing that anything can happen, and I have to be really focused." Williams did not stop after the first set and broke serve again for a decisive 3-1 lead in the second. Williams set up a match point with a service winner and won when Kvitovas return sailed into the net. She finished with 11 aces. "I think her serve is really big, so I knew I wanted to hold. I served well," said Williams, who has never lost to Kvitova in five matches. Williams, 32, is enjoying the finest season in her career, having already won 10 titles. She added the French Open and U.S. Open titles to bring her Grand Slam record to 17 championships and is 76-4 for the year. Making her eighth appearance in the event, Williams is looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007. Henin was also the last to win 10 titles in a season, in 2007. Williams has clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in her career after 2002 and 2009. The key to Lis victory in an error-filled match full of long rallies was her break of serve in the third set for a 4-3 lead. She never looked behind again, winning the last three games. Jankovic hit a backhand into the net on Lis second match point. The fourth-seeded Li has a 2-0 record in the White Group and looks likely to advance to the semifinals for the first time. Seventh-seeded Jankovic is 1-1. Jankovic is back in the tournament for the first time in three years. The two of them and Victoria Azarenka are vying to make the semis. "It was tight, yeah, but at least its better than the last two years," said Li, who won only once in 2011 and 2012. She was pleased to add she had one foot in the semis but her other foot was "still out of the door." Kerber is 1-1 in the Red Group. Radwanska fell to 0-3. "Im feeling good," Kerber said. "I was really playing very well today ... I was focused from the first point." Li holds a 6-4 career edge over her Serbian friend, but she had to work hard for her win. Both players were inconsistent and error-prone. Li had 45 unforced errors and 21 winners, Jankovic 36 unforced errors and 17 winners. "We had a great fight," Jankovic said. "In the third set it was just a couple of points. I got broken in that (seventh) game. She lobbed me, and the ball went on the line." Li followed the lob with a crisp backhand winner to take the game. "They were the crucial points at that stage and made a difference," Jankovic said. Cheap Wild Jerseys . Patrick Deslisle-Houde and David Rose each scored in the second to give the fourth-seeded Redmen a 3-1 lead after Jean-Philippe Mathieu scored in the first. Cheap Wild Jerseys China . American Lindsey Jacobellis was third, while Japans Yuka Fujimori finished just off the podium. Maltais, from Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., earned bronze at the 2006 Olympic Games and is set to return to the Games this February in Sochi, Russia. http://www.cheapwildjerseys.com/ . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat. Cheap Minnesota Wild Jerseys . The 48th-ranked Williams made her first appearance in Dubai since she won her second straight title here in 2010. Shed missed the last three years either because of injury or Sjogrens Syndrome. Wholesale Wild Jerseys . The deals were announced on Friday. Beckham will receive $4.175 million in base salary, while De Aza will receive $4.25 million. Beckham hit .267 with five home runs and 24 RBIs over 103 games last season, his fifth with the White Sox. NEW YORK -- Mets manager Terry Collins quickly changed out of his uniform and met the media in slacks and a purple polo shirt Sunday, in a hurry to make his All-Star break flight. The way the Mets are playing, though, Collins and his team sounded as if the real rush was to get back to playing baseball. Jacob deGrom had a tiebreaking single and again shut down the Marlins with seven impressive innings, David Wright doubled twice and drove in two runs, and New York completed a three-game sweep of Miami with a 9-1 victory. Wright, Curtis Granderson and Juan Lagares each had RBI doubles, and Chris Young added a sacrifice fly for New York in its eighth win on a 10-game homestand heading into the four-day break. "You hate to take a break when were swinging the bats well, getting great pitching performances -- our bullpens been fantastic," Wright said. "Were kind of clicking on all cylinders, so hopefully we pick up right where we left off." Wright has been on a tear since coming back July 5 after missing seven days with a bruised left rotator cuff. After this 2-for-4 day, he is 12 for 33 (.363) with seven RBIs in nine games. Despite his streak, Wright had a cortisone shot in the shoulder after the game. "There are no issues with my shoulder," Wright said. Wright, Young, Lucas Duda and Anthony Recker each drove in a run with the bases loaded in the eighth, a situation the Mets have struggled in all season. New York even benefited from a rare obstruction call for a run in the sixth inning as they jumped over the Marlins, losers of four straight, and into third place in the NL East at 45-50. What makes this streak -- the second-most wins in a 10-game homestand since Citi Field opened in 2009 -- especially encouraging is that it followed a demoralizing trip in which the Mets lost six of seven. "These guys just stepped it up," Collins said. "You can say it, you can think it, but when you actually do it and have success doing it, it changes things." DeGrom (3-5) had little trouble in his 12th career start, striking out eight and allowing five hits and a run even though he didnt have his best stuff. He also produced at the plate. A .273 hitter (6 for 22) coming in who has batted eighth in the lineup, deGrom got his first big league RBI after Brad Hand (0-2) intentionally walked Ruben Teejada to face the lanky former college shortstop.ddddddddddddDeGrom lined a single to centre for a 2-1 lead. "I wanted to get a hit when I saw them walk Tejada," deGrom said. "I just barrelled the ball." Hand was knocked out of the game with a bruised right shin. He took a sharp grounder off the leg in the fourth and then was removed for a pinch-hitter in the fifth. He is day to day. Hand yielded three runs and six hits, falling to 1-12 as a starter. "It is pretty sore right now," Hand said. "I mean it felt fine the rest of that inning but when I came in and sat down for a little bit, it did not feel very good after that." The Mets were already leading 4-1 when Granderson, who had three hits, a walk and an RBI, led off the sixth with a single. An out later, Wright hit a sharp grounder over third base. Rounding second, Granderson slightly altered his path to avoid second baseman Ed Lucas. Second base umpire Will Little immediately pointed at Lucas to indicate obstruction. Granderson raced home but was called out on a close tag play at the plate. Before Collins could post an argument about the out call, Little came in and emphatically gestured toward second base then gave a sweeping safe sign. "It did not look like he interfered with him to me," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "I mean Granderson is a pretty fast guy, I do not know if I have ever seen that called." The Marlins tied it in the fourth thanks to some help from Eric Campbell, who misplayed a fly to medium right field in his first major league start at second base into a double for Garrett Jones. Marcell Ozuna then beat out an infield single to shortstop for a run. NOTES: The Mets came in batting .165 (13 for 79) with the bases loaded. ... The Mets will use RHPs Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee and Zack Wheeler in the first three games after the break, at San Diego. The rest of the rotation will depend on the health of several pitchers, one being Jonathon Niese. The left-hander threw off the mound for first time since going on the DL on July 6 with a shoulder strain and said he felt great. ... RHP Nathan Eovaldi will likely start the first game for the Marlins against San Francisco in Miami. ... Eric Young Jr. had a pinch-hit single and two stolen bases, and he also grounded out, in the eighth. ' ' '