BRISBANE, Australia - Serena Williams extended her winning streak against Maria Sharapova to 14 matches with a 6-2, 7-6 (7) semifinal victory Friday to earn a shot at back-to-back Brisbane International titles. The defending champion will play second-seeded Victoria Azarenka in Saturdays final, and will be favoured to retain the title that kicked off her stunning 2013 season that included 78 wins from 82 matches and 11 titles. After blowing two match points in the tiebreaker, Williams sealed the win with her seventh ace against the third-seeded Sharapova. In their first meeting since the French Open final, the uneasy rivals barely exchanged glances before the match and only briefly shook hands after. Both players were returning aggressively — leading to 15 double-faults between them and six breaks of serve in the second set — and hitting their grounds strokes hard and deep. Williams hit consecutive double-faults to give Sharapova a mini-break at 5-4 in the tiebreaker, something she said she couldnt remember ever doing before on tour. Sharapova responded with a double-fault to make it 5-5, and said shed missed her opportunities. "I had a few missed chances ... but overall Im happy I can compete at this level in my third match back," Sharapova said. "Its a good sign for me." Any friendship that existed between the pair soured when they traded personal barbs relating to their romantic relationships ahead of last years Wimbledon, where Sharapova made an early exit. Sharapova only played one match after that in 2013 as she recovered from a right shoulder problem. Williams said shed need to vastly improve her first-serve percentage — which sunk to 40 in the semifinals — to beat Australian Open champion Azarenka, who overcame a shaky serve and another case of the nerves to beat former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Facing two of her biggest rivals back-to-back in her first tournament of the year, and less than two weeks before the Australian Open, is a big step up in preparations for Williams. "Yeah, I feel like Im being pushed into the deep end straightaway," she said. "I also think its a good thing." Azarenka had her problems on serve, too. She dropped her first three service games and was facing three break points in the opening game of the second set when she shifted the momentum with a winner she picked up on a half-volley when Jankovic was in control of the point. After needing 10 match points to beat Stefanie Voegele in the quarterfinals the previous night, Azarenka missed one chance to serve it out at 5-2 in the deciding set, conceding a break with a double-fault. She then missed a match point at 5-4 but held her nerve and finally finished it off on her second match point. The prospect of a match against another top four player so close to the Australian Open doesnt daunt Azarenka. "I dont think its ever too early. If you want to win big titles you got to play against the best players," she said. On the mens side, top-seeded Roger Federer coasted to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Marinko Matosevic of Australia and moved into a semifinal against No. 8 Jeremy Chardy of France. Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over Marin Cilic of Croatia and will next play former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, who cruised past Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 6-4, 6-2. Both Williams sisters will be playing finals Saturday, with Venus Williams to face Ana Ivanovic in the title match at the WTA tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Venus Williams got a walkover into her first final since October 2012 when Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal with a right hip injury. Ivanovic beat third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-2, 7-6 (3). At the Hopman Cup, France clinched a place in the final against Poland with a victory over winless Spain. Alize Cornet beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-2 before Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sealed the victory by defeating 194th-ranked Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2. The Czech Republic took a 3-0 win over the United States after John Isner withdrew ahead of his singles match and Sloane Stephens retired with a left wrist problem after losing the first set 6-3 to Petra Kvitova. Byron Bell Panthers Jersey . Big wingers Cole and Max Pacioretty each scored two goals and their diminutive centre David Desharnais had a pair of assists as the Canadiens ended a four-game winless run with a 5-2 victory over the Lightning on Wednesday night. Jason Avant Panthers Jersey . - Lindsey Vonn has elected to skip the season-opening World Cup slalom event Sunday to rest a sore back. http://www.authenticpanthersshop.com/Drake-Nevis-Panthers-Jersey. - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Jerricho Cotchery Panthers Jersey . Its the second of three meetings between these teams this season.  Vancouver was a 2-1 winner on home ice December 22nd. Mike Tolbert Panthers Jersey . That meant big trouble for the rest of the field at the Tournament of Champions. Stricker made even some of the longer putts look like tap-ins on his way to a 10-under 63, giving him a five-shot lead over Webb Simpson halfway through the PGA Tours season opener.NEW YORK -- Jeremy Guthrie made one thing clear to any playoff contenders pondering a deal for him: He can help. The same could be said for Derrek Lee and Koji Uehara, too. Guthrie shut down the New York Yankees for seven innings, perhaps driving up his price in a trade, and the Baltimore Orioles got homers from Lee and Mark Reynolds in a 4-2 victory Friday night. "Jeremy needed it. Jeremys pitched well enough to have some more Ws next to his name, so Im real proud of him tonight," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "Everybody played well. There was a lot of intensity in a situation where some people may not have had it all the time." Kevin Gregg held on in a shaky ninth, striking out Brett Gardner with runners at the corners to end it. Reynolds and Lee each drove in two runs, lending some rare offensive support to the major league leader in losses. Guthrie (5-14) allowed just four hits, including Mark Teixeiras solo homer, and walked three in one of his best outings during a frustrating season. "A real good win for us here against a quality team and a good pitcher," Guthrie said. The right-hander outpitched A.J. Burnett (8-9) for his first win in four career starts at Yankee Stadium. Last-place Baltimore won for the second time in 11 road games, improving to 1-6 against New York this year, as Guthrie moved to 2-7 away from home. A durable starter considered a prime trade candidate before Sundays non-waiver deadline, Guthrie handcuffed New Yorks dangerous lineup by consistently keeping the ball down. He got 12 outs on grounders and four of his five strikeouts came in his last two innings. "I dont anticipate anything happening," Guthrie said. "Ive said it before, 99 per cent of what goes on or is talked about around trade deadline doesnt ever happen. So why would you ever worry about it or think about it?" The 32-year-old Guthrie has sharp-looking wins over the Red Sox and Yankees in his past three starts. In between, he pitched pretty well in a loss to the Angels. "Jeremy Guthries worth a lot. You saw what hes capable of today against a lineup like the Yankees," Lee said. "Theres not a lot of great starting pitching thats available out there, so Im sure hed bring a good return." Uehara, also potential trade bait, fanned two in a scoreless eighth for Baltimore -- extending his shutout streak to 15 innings. He has not given up a run in 13 outings since June 19 at Washington. Gregg pitched the ninth for his 17th save. Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher opened the inning with consecutive doubles to cut it to 4-2.dddddddddddd One out later, Jorge Posada walked and Russell Martin grounded into a force play. That brought up Gardner, who thought he walked on a close pitch before he went down swinging. Gardner slammed his bat twice to the ground, smashing it into pieces. "I didnt get any hits tonight, so it was time to retire it anyway," he said. Burnett struck out 10 and yielded five hits in eight innings. He is 0-3 in five starts since beating Milwaukee on June 29. "I gave all I could out there," Burnett said. "Where Im at now, I feel fine. I cant wait to pitch the next game." New York fell to 4-3 on a 10-game homestand against three of the ALs worst teams: Oakland, Seattle and Baltimore. In the opener of a four-game series, the start was delayed by rain for one hour 49 minutes. The teams play a day-night doubleheader Saturday to make up an April 12 rainout. Burnett walked Lee with one out in the second and Reynolds hit the next pitch into the New York bullpen in right-centre. The opposite-field shot was his 22nd homer of the season. Vladimir Guerrero and Lee hit consecutive doubles to centre in the fourth, making it 3-0. Lee also homered to the opposite field on Burnetts first pitch with two outs in the sixth, sending a solo drive to the short porch in right. Lee began the night 2 for 11 (.182) with four strikeouts and no extra-base hits in his career against Burnett. The slick-fielding first baseman also could be on the trading block after his recent resurgence at the plate. "Well, Im sure someone would look at my numbers now compared to a couple weeks ago, it probably looks a little better. So well see what happens. Its something thats out of my control," Lee said. "I need to do it a lot longer than a week or two, but I definitely feel better." Teixeira connected for his 29th of the year on a full count in the bottom half of the sixth. NOTES: Baltimore plans to recall RHP Chris Tillman from triple-A Norfolk to start the first game Saturday. LHP Zach Britton will return from double-A Bowie to start the nightcap against another pitcher coming back up from the minors: Yankees RHP Ivan Nova was 8-4 when he was sent to triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ... Orioles LHP Mike Gonzalez was available out of the bullpen after completing his three-game suspension Thursday in Toronto. Gonzalez was punished for throwing behind Boston slugger David Ortiz on July 10 at Fenway Park. ... Guthrie improved to 4-9 in 15 career starts against the Yankees. ... Burnett dropped to 12-5 in 20 starts against Baltimore. ' ' '