BEIJING - Serena Williams overcame problems with her serve to defeat Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-3 Saturday, advancing to the China Open final against U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. She beat Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2.
Williams, seeded first, sealed her victory with an ace, a rare quick point in a match dominated by baseline rallies.
Sharapova, seeded third, broke serve in the first game and led 2-0. But Kuznetsova, seeded second, won the next six games to take the set.
SOCCER: Arsenal stretches streak
Defending champion Arsenal stretched its unbeaten record in the Premier League to 47, winning 1-0 at Manchester City on a rare goal by Ashley Cole. He took a deflected pass from Jose Antonio Reyes and scored in the 13th minute, his first goal in more than two years.
MLS: Host Columbus extended its unbeaten streak to a single-season league record 14 games with a 1-0 win over D.C. United. The Crew clinched homefield advantage through the first round of the playoffs.
OLYMPICS: Slap draws suspended ban
Australian rower Catriona Oliver, who slapped a fellow eights competitor at a welcome-home dinner in Sydney, has been given a suspended two-year ban from competing on national teams. Oliver admitted slapping Sally Robbins on the shoulder as she passed her table at the dinner and has apologized.
PARALYMPICS: Danny Andrews of Holiday won the 400 meters Friday in Athens. He finished in 51.24 seconds, a world record.
COLLEGES: UF honors swimmers
Carlos Jayme and Sara McLarty led the Florida swimming award winners. They received the Giovanni Linscheer Award for those who have contributed the most to the overall success of the team and have displayed dedication, leadership, positive attitude and performance. Ryan Lochte and Jaime Ellis received the Skip Foster Award, given to the most valuable swimmer, for the second time. ... FSU swept visiting Clemson. The men prevailed 129-112, and the women won 157-85.
CROSS COUNTRY: The UCF men took the top seven places in the 8-kilometer race. In the women's 5K, Astrid Claessens got her first win for the Golden Knights. Team scores were not kept. ... The Tampa women won the FlRunners.com Invitational by placing four in the top five. They scored 24. The Spartan men were second (78) to Warner Southern (56).
MEN'S SOCCER: Brandon Whitsett and Giancarlo Conte scored as host Saint Leo beat Warner Southern 2-0. ... The U.S. under 17 team shut out host Tampa 3-0 in an exhibition.
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Jenny Borschel of St. Petersburg scored twice to lead Jacksonville to a 5-0 win over host Belmont. ... USF postponed today's game against Cincinnati because of the threat of Hurricane Jeanne. It has not been rescheduled. MEN'S TENNIS: Florida had four individuals and two doubles teams advance to the quarterfinals at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga.
ET CETERA
CYCLING: Ivan Basso, who finished third in the Tour de France, beat Francesco Casagrande in a sprint to win the Tour of Emilia in Italy. Basso of the CSC team completed 121.8 miles in 4 hours, 56 minutes, 45 seconds. ... Defending champion Roberto Heras lost 30 seconds of his lead in the Spanish Vuelta. The Spaniard was still in front of countryman Santiago Perez by 43 seconds entering today's 17-mile time trial, the final stage. Jose Gutierrez won the 110-mile 20th stage in 4:52:20.
HORSES: Fantasticat, coming in at 13-1 odds, pulled in front entering the stretch and held off Borrego at the wire to win the $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. ... Ocean Drive swept wide to join the leaders nearing the stretch, then finished strong to win the Grade III $150,000 Noble Damsel Handicap by 11/4 lengths at Belmont Park.
SWIMMING: Australia's Jade Edmistone tied the world short-course record in the 50-meter breaststroke at the Australian championships. She was timed in 29.96 seconds in the second semifinal.
TRACK: Kelly Holmes, the Olympic gold medalist in the 800 and 1,500, won the Great North Mile in Newcastle, England. She won for the third time in four years, finishing in 4:28.7, and took two seconds off the mark set a year ago by Sureyya Ayhanof Turkey.
