ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Serena Williams proved Wednesday at the WTA Championships that even when her serve is malfunctioning, she can still beat a top player. Williams beat 2011 French Open champion Li Na of China 7-6 (1), 6-3 for her second win in round-robin matches to seal a semifinal spot at the tournament for the top eight players in the world. In another Red Group encounter, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka saved two match points before rallying past Angelique Kleber of Germany 6-7 (11), 7-6 (2), 6-4 in her first match at the event. Because that match went to three sets, Williams advanced to the last four. In the White Grouo, second-ranked Maria Sharapova rallied to beat No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. Williams had six double-faults and won only 51 per cent of points on her first serve. But Li also struggled on serve - there were eight breaks in the first set and three more in the second. "My serve just didnt go in. Every time I got my first serve in, I was surprised," Williams said. "But knowing I was able to still, for me, zero serve compared to how I normally serve - I think its something good I can take out of the match." She has won 28 of her past 29 matches and captured Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympic titles this year. The highest ranking she can achieve at the end of the year is No. 2 because of injuries and missed tournaments. At one point, Williams got so frustrated at dropping serve that she uncharacteristically smashed her racket. "No, I dont break rackets in matches. Although I didnt hit it hard," she said. "Maybe I dont know my own strength." The first set was full of missed opportunities. The eighth-ranked Li took a 4-1 lead before Williams won the next four games. Serving for the set, the American again dropped serve. Li was unable to hold, though, and Williams had another chance to serve out the set - only to lose it at love. Williams took control of the match in the second set by saving a breakpoint - in a game that lasted nine minutes - to hold and lead 4-1. The American wasted two match points to break Li, but closed it out on her own serve when the Chinese player sent a forehand long. Both Azarenka and Kleber smashed rackets in the second, highly entertaining match that lasted 3 hours, 6 minutes and tied the record for most games (36) at the event. The first-set tiebreaker also tied a record for most points. Sharapova and Radwanska also equaled the record in a match that lasted three hours and 12 minutes and finished after 2 a.m.. Kleber is making her debut in the event after winning two titles and climbing to No. 5 this year after finishing 2011 at No. 32. She was down a break in the second set, but led 5-4 after prevailing in a game that went to nine deuces and lasted 13 1/2 minutes. Azarenka then saved two match points before capturing the second tiebreaker. The Belarusian closed it out on Kerbers serve, hitting a forehand winner on her first match point. "She provoked a lot of mistakes from me, but on the match points I just thought I had to go for it," said Azarenka, who needs one more round-robin win to secure the No. 1 ranking for the year. "She will not miss, so I didnt have to wait for her mistake. "I had to go for it. I was so determined to make it happen. I wanted to change the momentum. I wanted to take the destiny into my hands. You know, if I would have missed those shots it will be up to me, not up to my opponent." Kerber said Azarenka just played the big points better. "I was 2-6 down in the tiebreak and I won it, so maybe it was the same thing. I had the match points in the second set but she played unbelievable and I could do nothing," Kerber said. Earlier, defending champion Petra Kvitova withdrew from the tournament because of a viral illness and was replaced by Samantha Stosur. 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I admit, I actually had to look it up. It was back on December 14th when the Jays sent reliever Brad Lincoln to the Phillies for 33-year-old catcher Eric Kratz and 24-year-old lefty reliever Rob Rasmussen. OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators may be struggling, but the club has every reason to believe it can turn things around. Mired in a six-game winless streak and barely holding on to a playoff spot, the Senators (21-21-7) say they have plenty of time to right the ship. "We think we have what it takes to turn this around obviously," captain Daniel Alfredsson said Monday. "We know its not going to be easy, but its a challenge and we look forward to it." Despite the losses piling up, the Senators remain optimistic. "We put ourselves in a good spot and I dont think theres any reason to panic," Nick Foligno said. "Weve worked hard to get where we are and were still in a good position and we know we need to win games, but we still feel like were right there and we can tweak things just a bit and well be playing winning hockey again." One of the most noticeable aspects through the losing streak has been the Senators offensive struggles. They were shutout against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and were held to just one goal in three of the other losses. Not surprisingly Ottawas top three scorers have been ineffective. Milan Michalek doesnt have a point in his last seven games, Jason Spezza has been held pointless in his last six and Alfredsson has two goals and one assist in the same span. In addition, Ottawas supporting cast hasnt managed to make up for those shortages. Foligno, Zack Smith, Colin Greening and Erik Condra are all struggling offensively as well, and even Erik Karlsson, with just one goal and two assists during the slide, isnt contributing as much. It came as no surprise that Mondays practice featured work on driving to the net annd getting pucks on goal.dddddddddddd. "We believe in our abilities and know that the goals are going to come," Foligno said. "Its just a matter of doing the little things right now whether its getting to the net or getting more shots on net. Once you do that I think youre going to see goals go in and its just a matter of breaking through that barrier." Spezza admits guys are probably "squeezing the sticks" a little bit more right now and if the team can go back to some basics success will likely follow. "Its nice to have a foundation that weve created that we can fall back on and that we feel comfortable with," Spezza said. "Everybody feels that the way we play the game translates well into good, competitive close hockey games. Weve built that foundation to fall back onto and this is when you use it, when youre going through a losing streak. You go back to the things that got you the wins earlier on." The Senators are back in action Tuesday night when the St. Louis Blues come to town. Paul MacLean didnt name his starting goaltender but he also seemed a little annoyed when asked if maybe starter Craig Anderson was in need of a break. Anderson has started the last 17 games and already played in 50 overall, the most of any goaltender in the league. "Im not worried," MacLean said. "Some goalies have played a little over 70 games lots of time and Craigs done it before so were not worried about him." Notes: D Brian Lee has been cleared to play after missing the last ten games with a lower body injury. ... It appears Jesse Winchester has suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion as he did not skate with the team. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '