Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will meet in Saturdays womens Australian Open final after both women cruised to straight-set victories on Thursday. Williams, looking to win her sixth Aussie Open title, took out fellow American Madison Keys 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to reach the final. With the first set all even at 5-5, Williams was on serve when Keys went up 30-15 in the 11th game, but Williams took the next three points before Keys smashed a backhand down the line to knot it up at 40-all. Williams ended up taking the next two points to win the game, then Keys kept the back-and- forth affair going with an ace to force a tiebreak. Williams had set point, up 6-3, in the tiebreak when the 19-year-old Keys fired two aces to close within one, but Williams countered with an ace on her next serve to take the stanza. Williams pressured her opponent from the onset of the second set, taking the first game and breaking Keys in the process. However, Keys maintained composure and went up 40-15 in the next game. But Williams ended up grinding her way back and taking the game. After the two maintained serve over the next two games, Williams broke the unseeded Keys again and eased her way to the finish line. This was the first career meeting between Williams and Keys. The 33-year-old Williams is seeking her 19th Grand Slam singles championship and 65th career title overall. She is a perfect 5-0 in Aussie Open finals. Williams is tied with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the second- most womens Grand Slam titles in the Open Era behind Steffi Grafs 22. I didnt expect to get to the finals of this tournament when I first got here because I wasnt playing great, Williams said after reaching her first Melbourne Park finale since 2010. I didnt play well at Hopman. I was so off. I felt like I wasnt moving well. I just wasnt feeling great on the court. Its been so long since Ive even been in a final here. I was kind of like, oh, let me just try (and) my theory now is to relax and play the match as best as I can. When I step on the court and hear the announcer, I dont have to win anymore. I can just relax and have fun. Meanwhile, Sharapova reached her 10th career Grand Slam final by beating Russian countrymate Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. The former world No. 1 Sharapova, seeded No. 2 here behind Williams, rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win over the left-handed 10th seed Makarova in 87 minutes. The former Aussie Open champion double-faulted seven times, but tallied 23 winners, including three aces in the win. Sharapova has won 22 of her last 23 matches against fellow Russians and improved to 6-0 lifetime against Makarova, including 3-0 at the Australian Open following quarterfinals wins in 2012 and 2013. Its been a strange road for me to get to the finals, but Im happy, said Sharapova. Came from behind in a few, really behind in one -- saving match points. I felt like I was given a second chance. I just wanted to take my chances. The 26-year-old Makarova appeared in her second straight Grand Slam semifinal. She lost to Williams at last years U.S. Open. The 27-year-old Sharapova is chasing her sixth career Grand Slam championship and 35th overall WTA title. Shes 5-4 in Grand Slam finals, including 1-2 at the Australian Open. Sharapova titled here in 2008 and lost in Melbourne in 2007, to Serena, and 2012, to Victoria Azarenka. Sharapova has yet to lose in 2015, going 10-0, including a title run in Brisbane a few weeks ago. The powerful Williams is 16-2 lifetime against Sharapova, who has gone winless in their head-to-head series since 2004. The American is 4-1 in their Grand Slam matchups, including 2-0 in Melbourne. Sharapova beat Serena in the 2004 Wimbledon final. Jose Trevino Rangers Jersey . Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Ivan Rodriguez Jersey . In their first meeting for six years, the Frenchmen dropped serve twice in the first set, but Giquel broke Simon two more times in the second. Gicquel moves on to face sixth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who advanced with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win against wild card Pierre-Hugues Herbert, despite the Frenchmans 23 aces. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/157...ey-rangers.html. The judge sternly instructed the prosecutor to restrain himself and he apologized -- then went right back to trying to pick holes in the testimony of the double-amputee runner. 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Burks scored 10 of his 26 points in the final two minutes to lift the Jazz to a 105-100 win over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "Alec did a great job closing the game out for us, attacking the basket," said Utah coach Ty Corbin after the Jazz endured a six-minute scoreless stretch with seven missed shots and two turnovers. The game was tied 91-1ll when the Jazz looked to Burks to create some offence. The guard made a number of acrobatic drives to the basket and capped a personal 9-0 run with a soaring dunk to make it 100-91 with 22 seconds to play. Utahs top scorer off the bench got to the free throw line with his aggressive play, making 13 of 14 from the stripe in 22 minutes of play. "I relish contact. I really was just trying to be aggressive," Burks said. "Thats my game, going to the hoop." His clutch scoring extended Utahs season-best winning streak to three and sent the Sixers to their ninth straight road loss to the Jazz. Evan Turner scored 21 points and Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young had 19 apiece for Philadelphia. The 76ers lost their eighth straight, the last two by more than 40 points while nearly matching the NBA mark for the largest total margin of defeat in consecutive games. Philadelphia has given up nearly 116 points per game over the eight-game skid. Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Marvin Williams had 13 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as the Jazz had six players score in double figures. The problem was that no one could find the hoop in the middle of the fourth quarter when they surrendered a 14-point lead. Burks hit a 3-pointer and Richard Jefferson stole a pass and dunked for an 85-71 lead with 10:02 to play. The 76ers then rallied, extending their defence and holding the Jazz scoreless for more than six minutes during a 13-0 run. Spencer Hawes tipped in his own miss to cap the run and then Carter-Williams converted a three-point play after Trey Burke broke Utahs drought to tie the game at 91 with 2:10 to play. Burks had 24 to lead the Jazz over the Lakkers in Los Angeles on Tuesday and then continued his instant offence in the second half the back-to-back set.dddddddddddd Utahs reserves outscored their Philadelphia counterparts, 56-10. James Anderson, who had 15 points, made a trio of 3-pointers in the final 18 seconds, but it was too late after Burks outburst. The Sixers showed some fight in their last game before the All-Star break and the finale of a disastrous three-game road trip. Following a 123-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the 76ers fell behind by 49 points before losing 123-80 to Golden State on Monday No other team in NBA history had lost two straight games by at least 40 points each. Philadelphia has now done it twice, having lost back-to-back games in April 1994 by a combined 93 points. The Detroit Pistons set the record for margin of defeat in consecutive games, losing 95 points combined in back-to-back games in November 1966, according to STATS. One highlight for Philadelphia has been the play of rookie Carter-Williams, who had eight assists and leads all rookies in scoring, rebounding and assists. This was the first game between Carter-Williams, who was drafted 11th, and fellow lottery pick Burke (picked ninth) since their Final Four meeting in April. Burke struggled again Wednesday as he did in Michigans 61-56 win over Syracuse, when he had seven points on 1-of-8 shooting. Burke had seven points on 3-of-12 shooting against Philadelphia. "I thought Michael played with great poise. He could have handled this particular matchup in different ways. I thought he grew tonight," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. Derrick Favours left the game in the first quarter after re-injuring his right hip. He missed a wide-open layup on the first Jazz possession of the game and never got any lift. In six minutes of play, he limped slightly and then left the game and went to the locker room. The Jazz centre has missed four other games with the hip strain and Utah had lost all six contests when Favours is out with injury. NOTES: Brandon Davies, who was raised in Utah and played at BYU, has missed the Sixers last 14 games with a fractured pinkie finger. ... In the third quarter, the Sixers purposely fouled Rudy Gobert, who shoots 51 per cent from the line, but the 7-footer swished both attempts. ... Philadelphia backup big man Lavoy Allen left the game with a sore left knee and did not return. ' ' '
