D Thursday, January 28, 2010 SPORT 25 No sister showdown as Venus loses epic Crashed out: Venus DefenDing champion Serena Williams survived a major scare against Victoria Azarenka to keep her bid for a fifth Australian Open title alive. The world no.1 recovered from being a set and a double break behind to overpower the 20-year-old 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Hopes of an all- Williams semi-final were dashed, however, after Venus was on the wrong end of an equally impressive comeback from Chinas Li na. She failed to serve out the match in the second set and was made to pay as she lost a marathon match with the 16th seed 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes. Serena had followed her sister onto the Rod Laver Arena in the second match of the day and admitted she thought she may also be heading out after Azarenka went 4-0 ahead in the second set. She said: i was actually thinking, if i lose today and lose in doubles i think i can catch a flight on friday. Thats not what a champion is supposed to think. TENNIS Roger rolls on but Novak is sickened RogeR FedeReR reached his 23rd consecutive grand-slam semi-final after beating his recent tormentor Nikolay davydenko. The world No.1 recovered from losing the opening set by reeling off 13 consecutive games in a 2- 6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 victory. Federer, who is bidding for his fourth title in Melbourne, will play Jo- Wilfried Tsonga in the last four after the Frenchman won his repeat of the 2008 final against Novak djokovic 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Federer, who lost to davydenko in their previous two meetings, said: Its incredible looking back on how many years Ive been able to deliver at grand- slam play. Looking at the draw with [Lleyton] Hewitt in the fourth round and davydenko in the quarters, I was a bit worried I was not going to make the semis. Tsongas victory against djokovic was marred by a stomach bug that affected the Serbian midway through the match. djokovic added: I just couldnt hold on, I had to go to the toilet. There was no other way otherwise I would throw up on the court. Worried: Federer MENS rESultS (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5, (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 SEMI-FINAl DrAW Marin Cilic (Cro) v (5) Andy Murray (Gbr), (1) Federer v Tsonga WOMENS rESultS (1) Serena Williams (USA) bt (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, (16) Na Li (Chn) bt (6) Venus Williams (USA) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 SEMI-FINAl DrAW (1) Williams v (16) Li, Justine Henin (Bel) v Jie Zheng (Chn) By John Donnelly Ireland retain hunger for Grand Slam repeat Out in front: Ireland and captain Brian ODriscoll (centre) are the ones with the target on their backs in this years Six Nations, with, from left, Chris Cusiter (Scotland), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy), Ryan Jones (Wales), Steve Borthwick (England) and Dimitri Szarzewski (France) leading the chasing pack Picture: Getty RUGBY RBS 6 NATIONS BRIaN odRIScoLL admits last years grand Slam heroics have left Ireland determined to retain their place at the summit of european rugby. Irelands success in completing only their second clean sweep has whetted their appetite for silverware as they prepare for the championship opener against Italy in ten days time. Sweeping all but australia aside during an unbeaten year has trans- formed them into the RBS 6 Nations prized scalp, even if France have been installed as the bookmakers pre-tour- nament favourites. odriscoll, in his eighth year as captain, hopes last seasons title has ushered in a period of domination that he intends to enjoy. The fact we won hasnt changed the dynamic. Hopefully, its going to be our time again, he said. You get self- ish after obtain- ing a goal. You get a taste for it. It does not mean your am- bition is less, in fact it probably heightens it. I enjoyed all the trappings that came with the grand Slam winning itself, the celebrations and the general feeling in the country. It was great and if we can do that again, why not? Its better than not doing it again. We experienced being very low after the 2007 World cup and its definitely a nicer feeling being at the top. We want to stay there for as long as we possibly can. Were owed nothing after winning last year so we have to go earn it again and start from scratch. odriscoll has ruled out a tactical rethink even though Ireland are enter- ing uncharted waters by defending the grand Slam. There will be no change of empha- sis, said the Lions and Leinster cen- tre. I was once told you dont ever defend anything, you just role up your sleeves and try to win it again. It will be the same attitude that weve had for the past ten years. You try and build into a competi- tion, you dont win it in the first cou- ple of weeks. This is all new ground to me but I wont look at anything differently. I wont treat it any differently. You dont retain anything, you give it back and you try to win it again. You dont defend it, you roll up your sleeves and try to win it again Second-half spurt: Brogan Royals deal Dubs defeat in replay CORmAC mcguinneSS stole a sensational OByrne Cup quarter- final victory for meath with the last kick of the game in navan last night, writes Paul Keane. Leading by five points at half-time the Royal County were reeled in by the brilliance of Bernard Brogan, who hit 1-5, to trail late on. But eamonn OBriens meath showed real character to draw level before mcguinness kicked the winner three minutes into injury-time. it was a thrilling end to a replay tie that matched Sundays drawn game at Parnell Park for drama and tension. Dublin made ten changes from the side that drew last weekend and struggled in the early stages. Bernard Brogan scored their only two points in the first-half as they trailed 0-7 to 0-2 at half-time. But while he missed a penalty early in the second half he made up for it with 1-3 in the half to put Dublin 1-7 to 0-9 up after a stunning fightback. Jamie Queeney, quiet after a strong first-half, burst back into life for meath with a 61st-minute goal but, again, Dublin regrouped to level it through eamonn fennell and Kevin Bonner. But with extra- time looming mcguinness split the posts for a memorable winner. GAA meath 1-10 dublin 1-9 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html