BRISBANE, Australia -- Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are set to renew their long and not-so-friendly rivalry in the semifinals at the Brisbane International, a key warm-up tournament for the Australian Open. Drake Caggiula Jersey . The pair played back-to-back quarterfinals on centre court Thursday, with the third-seeded Sharapova beating 2012 Brisbane champion Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. She dropped three service games in the first set and another to open the second before finding her range and staging her comeback against the No. 30-ranked Kanepi. The top-ranked Williams, the defending champion, was next on court and didnt lose a point on serve in the first set en route to a 6-3, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Diminika Cibulkova of Slovakia. Williams has a 14-2 record and 13-match winning streak against Sharapova dating back to the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, beating the Russian most recently in last years French Open final. Any friendship the pair had at that stage soured when they traded personal barbs relating to their romantic relationships ahead of Wimbledon, where Sharapova made an early exit. Sharapova only played one match after that in 2013 and spent the latter months of the season recovering from a right shoulder problem. Williams, meanwhile, had a spectacular year, winning 78 of her 82 matches and capturing 11 titles, including two majors. As far as any grudges go, Williams said Thursday: "Its very difficult I think for anyone to be best buddies when youre so competitive." Sharapova didnt back away from the comments she made about Williams at Wimbledon in a New York Times profile last month, giving the impression that the relationship between the pair was still cold. On Thursday, she said shed used the newspaper interview to "clear the air." Asked how shed describe their rivalry now, Sharapova replied: "Well, I think I got to win a few times in order to call it rivalry." "I havent had a lot of success against her," she added. "Its the first tournament of the year. I came here wanting to play as many matches as I could and obviously wanting to play the best." Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka had difficulty closing out her quarterfinal match before beating Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1. The second-seeded Azarenka failed to convert eight match points in the second set -- three serving at 5-4 and another five in the tiebreaker -- before Voegele rallied to force a third. Azarenka raced to a 4-0 lead in the deciding set, dropped serve and then finally finished it off on her 10th match point. "Yeah, I made it ... about 20 times harder than it should have been," Azarenka said. "I definitely should have closed it out a little earlier." Azarenka will next face fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, who beat fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-1. In mens second-round matches, Romanian qualifier Marius Copil beat third-seeded Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-3 and will next meet former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, who ousted No. 6-seeded Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-3. No. 8-seeded Jeremy Chardy beat Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3 and fourth-seeded Kevin Anderson withdrew due to a stomach ailment before his scheduled second-round match against Australian wildcard entry Sam Groth. In other Australasian tournaments, Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard combined to give Canada a 3-0 win over Italy at the Hopman Cup in Perth, and Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic progressed to the semifinals at the WTA Tours ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. Canada (2-1) maintained a chance of qualifying for Saturdays Hopman Cup final from Group A when Raonic beat Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-4 and Bouchard clinched it when Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing 4-0 in the first set. Poland also won, beating Australia 2-1. In Auckland, Venus Williams beat Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-3, 6-3 and the second-seeded Ivanovic beat Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-3. Ivanovic will play her doubles partner, third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, in Fridays semifinals while Williams will play Jamie Hampton. Flipkens beat Japanese qualifier Sachie Ishizu 6-4, 7-5 and the fifth-seeded Hampton beat Lauren Davis 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Kailer Yamamoto Jersey .Just like old times.Only this time, just one got to enjoy a victory.James return to Miami as an opponent was a success — for the Heat, that is. Wade scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half, Luol Deng had 25 points and dogged James defensively all night, and the Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 in a hyped Christmas matchup Thursday. Paul Coffey Jersey .S. Basketball Writers Association. McDermott, who finished his career at Creighton as college basketballs fifth-leading scorer, accepted the honour from Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson at AT&T Stadium, site of the Final Four. http://www.oilersauthority.com/authentic-iiro-pakarinen-oilers-jersey/ .5 million. The 25-year-old Varlamov is thriving under first-year coach and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, posting a 26-9-5 record with a 2.CHICAGO -- Dennis Rodman is preparing to thrill North Korean fans during an exhibition basketball tour there late next month. Though he ducked questions in an interview with The Associated Press about whether his Christmas-time visit would be used for propaganda purposes by Kim Jong Un, the 29-year-old leader of one of the worlds most repressive regimes, Rodman said hell be accompanied on the trip by a dozen or so former NBA players. But he refused to name names. "I have seven people right now," Rodman said. "I talked to a couple of guys last week. Lot of guys are saying, OK, great. Ill go. Well go. But Im not saying this to get people to go over there to prove a point -- OK, great, lets go over there and make a difference. "No-o-o-o-o-o," he continued. "Lets go over there because this is a great opportunity for everyone to see a different culture. ... This country is so bad. This city is so bad. OK, great, come see it and tell the world when you come back, Hey, its not as bad as you think. And thats why Im taking NBA players over there, to show them, so they can come back and talk about it." Back in the news as a self-appointed ambassador and friend of Kim, Rodman returned Thursday to where he won the last three of his five NBA championships playing alongside Michael Jordan. On a promotional tour to pitch a vodka brand, Rodman, 52, held court downtown amid camera flashes. Rodman said he wouldnt talk about his relationship with Kim or North Korean politics, including its widely condemned human-rights record and secretive nuclear weapons program. Though he eventually touched on those subjects, Rodman glossed over several related questions and largely ignored a challenge to his answer about whether North Korea was holding U.S. citizens as hostages, including 85-year-old Korean War veteran Merrill Newman. The Swedish Embassy is negotiating on behalf of Newman because the U. Mark Fayne Jersey. .S. has no diplomatic ties to North Korea. Rodmans friendship with Kim has afforded him the kind of access denied statesmen from the West and even U.S. President Barack Obama. Rodman came under criticism for being "naive" during a previous visit to North Korea, where he was photographed often with Kim, and some members of the diplomatic community fear his antics could further aggravate already-sensitive negotiations. Rodman said his reasons for returning were much more personal and beyond that, Kims motives were not his concern. "Like I told you, this is not all about trying to create this major buzz," Rodman said. "Because I dont want my friend to sit there and say I been doing this all along to slip in some information on him. I dont want that. Thats why Im not doing that. Were friends and thats it. "This aint about me trying to be a politician and try to get some scoop on him and stuff like that. ... Hes my friend first. Other than that, I dont give a damn what ... he does." Rodman began his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons in 1986. It ended in 2000, after failed attempts to catch on with both the Lakers and Mavericks. Whether or not he misses the game, its clear he enjoys being back in the limelight, detractors and all. "People say, what do you do for a living? I dont know. I just float around the world. Basically, I dont do anything. I do a lot of major things around the world. I do things that is very significant right now, and people are actually paying attention to Dennis Rodman now. "Back when I was doing my finagling in sports, they thought I was a joke. 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