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. 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. Nike Vapormax Femme Black Friday . The underachieving franchise finished 17th in the 19-team league with a 6-17-11 record this season. "Our soccer team is absolutely in complete disarray," said Leiweke, drawing laughs during an Empire Club luncheon speech about the future of MLSE teams and plans to improve them. Vapormax Pas Cher Ebay . - Gary Kubiak is John Elways No. http://www.vapormaxsolde.fr/ . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. Vapormax Plus Destockage . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Vapormax 2020 . I kind of got a taste of being able to pick a suit with the draft lottery, I went with the bow tie.PORTLAND, Ore. - Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge said Thursday that he tore a ligament in his left thumb that will require surgery and that he could be out six to eight weeks.The three-time All-Star spoke before Portlands game against the Celtics. The Blazers fell to Boston 90-89.Aldridge hurt his thumb when his hand came down on the knee of Sacramentos DeMarcus Cousins in the second quarter of the Blazers 98-95 victory over the Kings on Monday night.Ive definitely sprained my thumb a few times, but this was on a different level, he said. I couldnt even move it.The 6-foot-11 power forward had X-rays immediately following the injury but they were inconclusive. An MRI early Thursday revealed a radial collateral ligament tear.Aldridge leads Portland with averages of 23.5 points and 10.4 rebounds and 1.18 blocks per game. Hes one of just three NBA players averaging at least 23 points and 10 rebounds.That was the last thing I wanted to hear, Blazers guard Damian Lillard said about Aldridges injury. Were an NBA team, its not like we can stop our schedule until he gets healthy. We just gotta keep on moving forward and try to win games.The injury is a big blow to the Blazers, who were already dealing with a depleted front line. Center Robin Lopez is out with a fractured right hand and centre Joel Freeland is sidelined with a right shoulder strain.Starting small forward Nicolas Batum left Thursday nights game against the Celtics after he aggravatedd a wrist injury that had been bothering him.dddddddddddd Batum said afterward he was scheduled to have an MRI.With Thursdays loss, Portland is 31-13 and sitting in third place in the Western Conference, but the Blazers have lost five of six.Its tough, weve been in a pretty good rhythm most of the season, Aldridge said. We have a lot of guys here who can step up and play better, and make plays. So I think the team shouldnt stall, were going to get guys back soon, so that should be good for us.Aldridge said he will have surgery within the week. He was wearing a black sleeve on his wrist and thumb when he spoke to reporters in the Blazers locker room.He said he discussed with the doctors whether he could play with it, but ultimately it was decided that he should have the surgery.They didnt feel the risk was going to be worth the reward, he said. It could be worse on the back end, or I could even wait two weeks and try to play and not end up playing anyways. So we just felt like, to us, the right thing to do is take care of it now.In his ninth NBA season, all with Portland, Aldridge recently moved into second on the franchise list for both points (11,782) and rebounds (5,095). He trails only Clyde Drexler with 18,050 points and 5,339 rebounds.Weve got to hold the fort down, Portland guard Wesley Matthews said. Weve got to figure it out, weve got to find ways to win and continue to play basketball the right way. Its gotten us 31 wins. ' ' '