bullpen. "Theyre basically giving this guy CPR and doing all t

BRISBANE, Australia -- Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are set to renew their long and not-so-friendly rivalry in the semifinals at the Brisbane International, a key warm-up tournament for the Australian Open. The pair played back-to-back quarterfinals on centre court Thursday, with the third-seeded Sharapova beating 2012 Brisbane champion Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. She dropped three service games in the first set and another to open the second before finding her range and staging her comeback against the No. 30-ranked Kanepi. The top-ranked Williams, the defending champion, was next on court and didnt lose a point on serve in the first set en route to a 6-3, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Diminika Cibulkova of Slovakia. Williams has a 14-2 record and 13-match winning streak against Sharapova dating back to the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, beating the Russian most recently in last years French Open final. Any friendship the pair had at that stage soured when they traded personal barbs relating to their romantic relationships ahead of Wimbledon, where Sharapova made an early exit. Sharapova only played one match after that in 2013 and spent the latter months of the season recovering from a right shoulder problem. Williams, meanwhile, had a spectacular year, winning 78 of her 82 matches and capturing 11 titles, including two majors. As far as any grudges go, Williams said Thursday: "Its very difficult I think for anyone to be best buddies when youre so competitive." Sharapova didnt back away from the comments she made about Williams at Wimbledon in a New York Times profile last month, giving the impression that the relationship between the pair was still cold. On Thursday, she said shed used the newspaper interview to "clear the air." Asked how shed describe their rivalry now, Sharapova replied: "Well, I think I got to win a few times in order to call it rivalry." "I havent had a lot of success against her," she added. "Its the first tournament of the year. I came here wanting to play as many matches as I could and obviously wanting to play the best." Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka had difficulty closing out her quarterfinal match before beating Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1. The second-seeded Azarenka failed to convert eight match points in the second set -- three serving at 5-4 and another five in the tiebreaker -- before Voegele rallied to force a third. Azarenka raced to a 4-0 lead in the deciding set, dropped serve and then finally finished it off on her 10th match point. "Yeah, I made it ... about 20 times harder than it should have been," Azarenka said. "I definitely should have closed it out a little earlier." Azarenka will next face fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, who beat fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-1. In mens second-round matches, Romanian qualifier Marius Copil beat third-seeded Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-3 and will next meet former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, who ousted No. 6-seeded Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-3. No. 8-seeded Jeremy Chardy beat Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3 and fourth-seeded Kevin Anderson withdrew due to a stomach ailment before his scheduled second-round match against Australian wildcard entry Sam Groth. In other Australasian tournaments, Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard combined to give Canada a 3-0 win over Italy at the Hopman Cup in Perth, and Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic progressed to the semifinals at the WTA Tours ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. Canada (2-1) maintained a chance of qualifying for Saturdays Hopman Cup final from Group A when Raonic beat Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-4 and Bouchard clinched it when Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-0 in the first set. Poland also won, beating Australia 2-1. In Auckland, Venus Williams beat Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-3, 6-3 and the second-seeded Ivanovic beat Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-3. Ivanovic will play her doubles partner, third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, in Fridays semifinals while Williams will play Jamie Hampton. Flipkens beat Japanese qualifier Sachie Ishizu 6-4, 7-5 and the fifth-seeded Hampton beat Lauren Davis 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Nike Zoom Clearance . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat. Cheap Nike Zoom Shoes . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. http://www.cheapnikezoom.net/. 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity. Nike Zoom For Sale . Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed Tuesdays massive anti-government protest in Manama as "a lot of kids having a go at the police." "I dont think its anything serious at all," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday. Nike Zoom Online Shop . Lupul injured the hand in a fall at practice on Thursday. He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip. MILWAUKEE -- Trying to rally past the Minnesota Twins became of little concern to the Milwaukee Brewers after a fan fell into their bullpen Tuesday night. The man was motionless for some nervous moments, and reliever Brandon Kintzler thought the fan had died. Medical personnel rushed to the scene and the man regained consciousness before being carted off on a stretcher, delaying the start of the eighth inning of the Brewers 6-4 loss to Minnesota. "He didnt move for a few minutes. I thought he was dead," Kintzler said. The fan fell before he started warming up to enter the game, and Kintzler had to take his practice tosses with paramedics and security still in the bullpen. "Theyre basically giving this guy CPR and doing all this stuff. Youre trying to warm up is not the best thing to do at the time," Kintzler said. Eventually, the man began moving his fingers, Kintzler said. Medical personnel brought him through the bullpen door in left-centre and loaded him on to the cart. He appeared to have a brace around his neck, and a white bandage wrapped around his forehead. The man fell from a dining area roughly 15 feet above the bullpen that is lined with a metal railing about four feet high. Kintzler suspected he was initially caught by netting above the bullpen. "We were just sitting there when (bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel) yelled Oh gosh and all of a sudden you see the net come flying down," Kintzler said. "I think the net caught him and then he just face planted." The Brewers said the fan was conscious and alert, and was being taken to Froedtert Hospital. "I actually was standing in the dugout right in the corner and a guy had his radio on and I heard somebody fell," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But hopefully -- I heard the guys OK. Probably a little beaten up. Yeah, thats a scary moment." Both teams hoped for the best following a game highlighted by Josh Willinghams three-run homer in the third off Yovani Gallardo (3-4) for a 4-1 lead. Twins closer Glen Perkins gave Milwaukee a chance by walking the first two battters in the ninth.dddddddddddd A run scored on Ryan Brauns sacrifice fly to the warning track in right before Carlos Gomez struck out for the final out, allowing Perkins to salvage his 15th save. Perkins held on after Samuel Deduno (2-3) tossed five bumpy innings, allowing two runs and six hits with four walks. The right-hander benefited from three double plays, two of which ended innings with runners in scoring position. "You need those. If youre going to walk people, you damn sure better get ground balls and get double plays," Gardenhire said. Brian Dozier hit a two-run homer in the fifth into the Brewers bullpen for a 6-2 lead. He finished 3 for 3 with a walk. Minnesota left Milwaukee with a split of two games before the interleague home-and-home series moves to Target Field for two more contests. Willingham hit three homers and drove in seven runs during the five-game road trip against the Yankees and Brewers. The way Willingham has been swinging the bat, it makes it easy to forget he had a left wrist injury that kept him out of the lineup for nearly seven weeks. All four of the outfielders home runs have come since he returned from the disabled list May 26. Willinghams latest homer came on a first-pitch slider from Gallardo, who laboured through his worst outing of the season. The righty allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings. "Since the first inning, I was battling with my mechanics," Gallardo said. "The more frustrating thing is it was the total opposite from the bullpen. I warmed up before the game, everything was there, and then I go out there and get out of it." NOTES: Twins rookie Danny Santana led off for the second time in a week. Gardenhire said he was giving Santana, who was hitting .375, a try atop the order to drum up offence. ... The Brewers plan to activate 3B Aramis Ramirez (hamstring) off the disabled list for Wednesdays game at Minnesota, where he will serve as the designated hitter for his first game back. ... Minnesotas Ricky Nolasco (3-5) faces Milwaukees Marco Estrada (5-2) on Wednesday. ' ' '