09/05/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Serena Williams and Serbian Jelena Jankovic will square off in Saturday night's final at the 2008 U.S. Open.
The fourth-seeded two-time champion Williams reached her fourth U.S. Open final by dominating sixth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 amid breezy conditions in Friday's second semifinal at Ashe Stadium. The surging Safina reached the final in six of her previous seven tournaments, winning three titles, and has beaten three different world No. 1 women this season.
Williams converted on her first match point against Safina when the Russian was unable to return one final big Serena serve after 1 hour, 28 minutes. The American broke Safina's serve five times and watched her Russian counterpart pile up 41 unforced errors.
The 26-year-old Williams will seek her ninth major title, going 8-3 in her previous Grand Slam finals. The former world No. 1 superstar owns 31 career titles overall on the WTA Tour, including three already this season, and will appear in her first U.S. Open final since 2002.
Williams was July's Wimbledon runner-up to her older sister Venus.
In the first semi of the day, the second-seeded Jankovic handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major runner-up Dementieva, fresh off her gold medal- winning performance in Beijing, was the 2004 U.S. Open runner-up to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Jankovic was ranked No. 1 for only one week just last month.
The 23-year-old Jankovic will now appear in her first-ever major final after going 0-4 in her previous Grand Slam semis, including 0-2 in such encounters this season. She was a semifinalist here two years ago.
Jankovic converted on her first match point after 1 hour, 34 minutes of tennis on Day 12 here when Dementieva sent one final forehand long of the court at Ashe. A sloppy Dementieva piled six double faults and 42 unforced errors and had her weak serve broken on five occasions by Jankovic, who played some great defense to advance.
Dementieva was riding an 11-match winning streak.
The Belgrade native Jankovic will appear in her 16th career final on the WTA Tour, going 6-9 in her previous ones, including 1-1 this year.
Serena and Jankovic have split six career matchups, including two meetings this year. The American prevailed in a final in Miami, while the Serb came out on top in an Aussie Open quarterfinal back in January. Williams topped Jankovic in an Aussie Open encounter last year, as the two players are 1-1 in their Grand Slam matchups.
The Williams-Jankovic winner will become the new No. 1 player in the world. The final could be in jeopardy here on Saturday, as foul weather is in the forecast due to Tropical Storm Hanna.
The 2008 U.S. Open champ will pocket $1.5 million, while the runner-up will collect $750,000.
<< Nationwide qualifying washed out at Richmond
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rain from the outer bands of Tropical Storm
Hanna have forced NASCAR officials to cancel qualifying for Friday night's
Emerson Radio 250 Nationwide Series race at the Richmond International
Raceway
<< Jankovic reaches U.S. Open final
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Serb Jelena
Jankovic secured a berth in Saturday night's U.S. Open women's final.
The second-seeded Jankovic handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4,
6-4 in Friday's firs
<< Stuttgart's Gomez considering options
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez admitted on
Friday he is keen to play in one of Europe's other top leagues.
The 23-year-old Germany international was the subject of a failed approach from
Manchester City
<< Ferdinand ruled out of England's Cup qualifier
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was
ruled out of England's opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday
with a back injury Friday.
Ferdinand, 29, missed training before England fle
Villegas leads BMW Championship >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas fired a five-under 65 on
Friday to finally take the first-round lead of the BMW Championship, the third
FedEx Cup Playoff event.
Newly selected United States Ryder Cupper Steve Stric
U.S. Open contingency plans in place for Hanna >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open officials made contingency
plans due to the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna this weekend, and it
could push the women's final to Sunday night and the men's championship match
to late
Im still in front at Canadian Tour Championship >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Im posted a four-under 68 on Friday to
stay atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Canadian Tour
Championship.
Im finished 36 holes at 12-under 132 and is one ahead at National P
Rangers' Kinsler to have season-ending surgery >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler
will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Kinsler, out since August 18 with the injury, decided to forego an attempt to
come back this season
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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