MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Serena Williams still gets butterflies from watching her big sister play.
The Williams sisters had back-to-back quarterfinals at Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open on Wednesday. Both were expected to win and pave the way for another Venus vs. Serena semifinal.
This time it didn't work out that way.
Top-seeded Serena was in the locker room waiting for her match to start as Venus was on the court having a very bad day.
``I saw maybe one or two points, maybe three. I don't want to watch too much. I get too nervous watching and my stomach is just sick,'' said Serena, who has won 11 Grand Slam singles titles.
I get way too emotionally involved,'' she added.So it's not really good for me to be watching her match before I play.''
The No. 6-seeded Venus started strong, winning the first set against Li Na of China and getting within one service game of making it a straight-sets win.
But the seven-time Grand Slam winner went on to make a staggering number of mistakes and No. 16-seeded Li ended up having what she later called the ``best day of my whole life.'' Li came back to beat Venus 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.
It became impossible for Serena to tune it out.
The locker room (was) in a frenzy, so you pretty much know what's going on,'' Serena said.I was incredibly disappointed.''
When Serena's turn came, it looked like she was headed in Venus' direction. Serena lost the first set to No. 7 Victoria Azarenka, but then fired up her aces and booming groundstrokes and won the next two to advance to the semis with a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win.
Serena will take on Li in the semifinals, but says she's not thinking in terms of revenge.
``My concept is just to do the best I can and stay focused, Serena said.
In the other semifinal, Justine Henin, playing in her first Grand Slam tournament after a nearly two-year retirement, will play Zheng Jie of China.
As for Venus, who has five Wimbledon titles and two at the U.S. Open, she rejects the notion that she can't win other majors.
Like I said so many times before, if I would have ... gotten involved in what people said I would have never left the ghetto,'' Venus said.So here I am playing pro tennis, playing well. The sky's the limit in this sport. I'm looking for that.''
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WITH NOVAK YOU NEVER KNOW: He's known as ``The Joker,'' and it's hard to tell when Novak Djokovic is being serious.
That's why Jo-Wilfried Tsonga didn't know what to think when Djokovic took a medical timeout trailing 2-0 in the fourth set of their quarterfinal Wednesday at the Australian Open.
``What is it? Can I know?'' Tsonga asked the chair umpire, who declined to give him the details.
After winning the match, the No. 10-seeded Tsonga said: ``I saw he was not very good, but you know, sometimes he does that and he wins.''
Tsonga added: ``It's strange because sometimes he doesn't play the point, and when it starts to become important he plays.''
Djokovic said during the postmatch news conference that he had an upset stomach before the match, probably from something he ate.
I had to go to the toilet otherwise I would have thrown up on court,'' said No. 3 Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion.When you lose a lot of fluids, your engines stop working and that's how I felt.''
Djokovic has the reputation of being an entertainer. He is best known for his impersonations of Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and John McEnroe, which he has performed on-court after matches at the U.S. Open, to raucous laughter from the crowd.
At the 2008 U.S. Open, he and Andy Roddick had a verbal squabble after the American suggested that Djokovic was not above faking illness to benefit his game.
Tsonga's 7-6 (8), 6-7 (5), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 win means he will face No. 1 Roger Federer in one men's semifinal. No. 5 Andy Murray plays No. 14 Marin Cilic in the other.
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BABY BOY: Taylor Dent made it home in time to witness the birth of his first child - and tweet about it, covering everything from his wife's large belly to her epidural and the joyous arrival of his baby boy, Declan Dent.
Gone are the days when childbirth was a private matter between husband and wife.
Dent, who actively updates his Twitter page, exited the Australian Open in the second round. He hopped a flight home to California and made it with a few days to spare.
``Jenny's belly is massive!!'' he tweeted Sunday, referring to his wife, former tennis pro Jennifer Hopkins.
They rushed to the hospital the next day. And the countdown started.
We are fired up!! She is ready to do battle!'' Dent wrote, and reported several hours later that the mother-to-be was still in good spirits - for the time being.I'm ready to be the verbal punching bag when the festivities begin.''
The No. 79-ranked Dent, who was once ranked No. 21, has played his share of big tennis matches, but said observing his wife in labor was ``by far the most nervous I have ever been.''
It's awful so far,'' he tweeted very early Tuesday morning, but a couple hours later he updated to say she took an epidural injection to relieve the pain andthings have improved a ton!''
While still in Melbourne, Dent said that they had already decided on the name Declan James Phillip Dent - Declan because they like the name, and the two middle names after each of their fathers.