Das Jahr 2008 » 2005, was still booed five years after being traded

NEW YORK -- Top-ranked Serena Williams knew she hadnt dropped a set going into her quarterfinal showdown against Simona Halep. But that didnt stop Williams from channeling a little Goran Ivanisevic of old after her previous two US Open matches -- both romps. Williams wryly spoke about herself in the third person, claiming she was waiting for the real Serena to show up and how she dearly hoped it would be soon.On Wednesday night, Williams finally got her wish in what might have been the most scintillating womens tennis match of the year.After a torrid start in which it seemed she might run Halep right off the court, Williams needed every bit of her legendary game -- her service bombs, her defensive prowess and net play, the power ground strokes and delicate drop shots she parachuted down here and there -- to survive everything Halep started to throw at her during the 2 hours, 14 minutes they raged at each other on a muggy night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.Until this match, no previous opponent had managed to keep Williams on-court more than 68 minutes. In the end, Williams knew she had only herself to blame for the length of this match. She went 0-for-12 on break points in the second set and double-faulted to hand Halep a decisive break of her own.But it wasnt just that. The fifth-seeded Halep spectacularly took advantage of the openings Williams gave her. This was before Williams rose up just as spectacularly herself in the third set and eventually pulled away to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win.I didnt play the same match in the second [set] that I did in the first, Williams said. Thats what makes me really calm. I feel like I can play so much better. I think everyone here knows I can play better.I was rather positive today -- and thats definitely not normal, but Im just going to go with it, Williams joked with a comical roll of her eyes.Though she wasnt asked about it once, the 34-year-old Williams is playing for a lot at this tournament. She has a chance to tie Chris Evert for the most US Open title wins ever, at seven. She has a chance to break a tie with Steffi Graf and get her 23rd career major win, a record for the Open era.Williams already moved by Roger Federer a match ago for the most-ever Grand Slam tournament wins (shes now at 309 ? and counting) but her hold on the No. 1 ranking for 186 consecutive weeks-- another record she shares with Graf -- is in jeopardy if she doesnt win this tournament and Angelique Kerber, whom she lost to at the Australian Open but beat in the Wimbledon final, does.Thats a lot of history in play. But its almost peculiar how little such milestones are even talked about much anymore. Williams already owns so many, its getting hard to keep track of them all. The bandwidth of her career has been so extraordinary for so long, its starting to feel like one of those stories in which the script gets flipped.The sum of all she has done is starting to feel greater than the parts.Halep seemed to surrender to the same idea when asked to describe how this match got away from her.She is the best player, Halep said, as if the statement hardly needed any elaboration.Halep is now 1-8 for her career against Williams but said she could at least walk away from this match knowing, This was the best I ever had against her.But Halep also knows her 105-mph serves pale next to the 120-plus bombs that Williams was smashing at her. And if she was ever going to win this match, it was going to have to happen the way it almost did: Shed have to be ready to chase down every ball Williams smashed back at her; shed have to absorb the power Williams packs into her groundstrokes and snap off some winners herself; and shed have to minimize her own mistakes and try to match Williams will and hope Williams gave her a glimmer of daylight here and there.And it nearly happened.But in the end, another difference was Halep couldnt overcome failing to convert two service break points in the first game of the third set, but Williams finally broke her a few games after that.Even an hour after the match, it was that missed opportunity that still stood out to the fifth-seeded Romanian. Said Halep: If there I could take that game, I think the story of the match wouldve been different.But she didnt. And it wasnt.Williams will now move on to play 10-seed Karolina Plishkova, the WTA Tour leader in aces, Thursday night in a semifinal that is already being hyped as having the potential to deliver the most aces ever struck in a single womens match. It will be interesting to see how Williams sore right shoulder, which has bothered her for weeks, will respond to back-to-back matches.The second-seeded Kerber and resurgent Caroline Wozniacki meet in the nights other semifinal.Williams was low-key Wednesday through much of her postmatch media conference -- even when reminded it was Plishkova who rallied to beat her sister Venus earlier in this tournament, depriving she and Serena of a chance to perhaps meet in a Slam semi for the first time in years. But Serena did seem a bit intrigued when a reporter went on to mention that Plishkova also has a sister who plays on tour -- but the Plishkovas are twins.Have you ever thought about another identical copy of you floating around, how tough that might be? Serena was asked.And the real Serena was indeed back.It would be a living hell, Williams cracked. Dante Fabbro Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Juuse Saros Predators Jersey .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Ryan-johansen-predators-jersey/ . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Ryan Ellis Jersey . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Miikka Salomaki Predators Jersey . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. SALT LAKE CITY -- The offseason acquisition of George Hill was a clear upgrade at the point guard position for the Utah Jazz, but few expected this type of production from the nine-year veteran.Hill scored 25 points and the Jazz defeated the Dallas Mavericks 97-81 on Wednesday night.Hill continued to power the Jazz offensively after coming to the team in a three-way trade with the Pacers and Hawks last summer. He has scored 18-plus points in all five games, the only Jazz player to do so.Some of the things that hes doing, you were hopeful that he would do, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. But youre equally pleased that hes doing them. Hes made big shots at crucial times. What Ive seen is his willingness to (say), `Where do you need me? Do you need me to score? Do you need me to get a stop? Do you want me to lead?The leadership component, to me, is probably the most unique. Thats something our team is responding to.The Mavericks trailed the entire game except for a 16-15 lead at the beginning of the second quarter. After shooting just 37.0 percent in the first quarter, the Jazz hit 49.2 percent the rest of the way. They were 12 for 25 from 3-point range.Im just happy were winning, I dont care about the numbers, Hill said. Just doing what it takes to try to win a game. Im glad my teammates have confidence in me to control the tempo out there and try to make plays.Rodney Hood scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Jazz as teammate Rudy Gobert had 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 14 points, but they shot just 26.9 percent behind the arc.Its been a tough start for us, Mavs center Andrew Bogut said. No one is going to give us anything easy, so we got to dig ourselves out of this hole.We werent in the game, really from the start. Whatever it was, we were kind of chasing our tails from the starrt.ddddddddddddOur bench did a great job of getting us back in the game. Made a run. We just couldnt sustain it.TIP-INSMavericks: Dirk Nowitzki started after missing the last two games with an illness. He scored nine points on 4-for-14 shooting. ... Point guard Deron Williams, who was drafted by the Jazz No. 3 overall in 2005, was still booed five years after being traded away.Jazz: Derrick Favors matched a season-high with 23 minutes as he works his way back from a knee injury. ... Dante Exum matched a season-high 10 points off the bench.STICKING AROUNDGobert signed a lucrative multi-year extension Tuesday to keep from entering restricted free agency after the season. The 7-foot-1, 245-pound center averaged career-highs in points (9.1), rebounds (11.0) and blocks (2.2) last season and has developed into one of the top defenders in the league. Gobert said the extension puts both he and the team on the same page and reinforces their belief in him. He knows he has to produce, but said there isnt any extra pressure. As a human, it wasnt really impacting my game, but in my mind you think about it a little bit, Gobert said. Now that its done Im focused on basketball and the team.MORE OFFENSEThe Mavericks entered the game ranked No. 15 in the league averaging 103.7 points per game. Coach Rick Carlisle is looking for more on that end of the court, but didnt get it Wednesday. We want to move the ball, Carlisle said. We want to get it in the paint as much as possible. Weve had some tough luck with shot-making, but that will come.UP NEXTMavericks: Host the Portland Trail Blazers and star point guard Damian Lillard on Friday.Jazz: Host the Spurs on Friday after upsetting Kawhi Leonard and company in San Antonio on Tuesday. ' ' '