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Defense helps US team to the World Cup final

<p>By Howard Fendrich</p><p>AP Tennis Writer</p><br><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Howard Fendrich</p><p>AP Tennis Writer</p></bylineMeta></div><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lucie Safarova returns a shot to Su-Wei Hsieh during their singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday. </div></div><div class=\metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Britain-Wimbledon-Ten_Erza.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lucie Safarova returns a shot to Su-Wei Hsieh during their singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday. </caption0></div></div>
<p>LONDON &#8212; Venus Williams is no longer the player she once was, on account of the passage of time and the day-to-day ups and downs of an energy-sapping condition.</p><p>At age 35, 21 years removed from her first professional tournament, Williams still possesses a dangerous serve, along with the muscle memory that comes with seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon.</p><p>And so while it is her younger sister Serena who is ranked No. 1, has 20 major titles and owns a 23-match Grand Slam winning streak as of Wednesday, the elder Williams is still in the draw at the All England Club, too &#8212; and the siblings are closing in on what would be their 26th all-in-the-family matchup on tour.</p><p>&#8220;She probably comes back here and, you know, I think, she almost feels like this is home,&#8221; said David Witt, Venus&#8217; coach. &#8220;When you have confidence, you have everything. That&#8217;s with any sport. And I guess when she gets here, it&#8217;s a confidence thing.&#8221;</p><p>On the hottest day on record in Wimbledon history, with the temperature topping 95 degrees (35 degrees Celsius) &#8212; and a terrific day for American women &#8212; both Williams sisters won second-round matches: 16th-seeded Venus beat 95th-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 7-6 (5), 6-4, while top-seeded Serena defeated 93rd-ranked Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4, 6-1.</p><p>Two more wins, and the siblings will meet in the fourth round.</p><p>&#8220;She poses a big threat for me,&#8221; Serena said about Venus.</p><p>They pulled out of doubles on Tuesday, citing &#8220;soreness&#8221; for Serena, who wants to focus on her pursuit of a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title.</p><p>Four other women from the U.S. won Wednesday, including two real surprises: 158th-ranked qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands eliminated No. 7 Ana Ivanovic, the 2009 French Open champion, 6-3, 6-4; and 47th-ranked CoCo Vandeweghe, the niece of former NBA player and executive Kiki, beat No. 11 Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (5), 6-4.</p><p>Also advancing: No. 21 Madison Keys, who finished off a match suspended because of darkness at 2-all in the third set a night earlier, and Sloane Stephens.</p><p>A pair of U.S. men moved on, too: No. 17 John Isner and 105th-ranked wild-card entry Denis Kudla, who followed up his victory over No. 28 Pablo Cuevas by getting past 18-year-old Alexander Zverev.</p>

Williams sisters showdown nears at Wimbledon