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PARIS -- For one full set, Maria Sharapova was about as bad as can be. The French Opens defending champion could not direct the ball where she wanted at the start of her quarterfinal against Serbias Jelena Jankovic. Point after point ended with a mistake by Sharapova -- long, wide, into the net, 20 unforced errors in all. It added up to only the sixth time in 626 career matches that Sharapova dropped a first set at love. She lost all of those others, never even forcing a third set. Sharapova did not go quietly Wednesday, though, turning up the level of her shot-making and the volume of her "Come on!" shouts on the way to beating the 18th-seeded Jankovic 0-6, 6-4, 6-3. "I wanted to put that chapter behind me," the second-seeded Sharapova said. "No matter how many errors I made or how disappointed I was with the way I started the match, I knew that I still could try to create chances out there; obviously taking them is another question. But I knew that I was capable of doing much better." Jankovic didnt so much earn her early lead as accept it: Of the 27 points she won in that first set, only two came via her winners. Down the stretch, Jankovic faded, losing the final four games. She was wearing beige strips of tape on her right shoulder and both thighs and said playing singles, womens doubles and mixed doubles these two weeks caught up with her. "I needed a bit more gas in my tank to finish this match off," she acknowledged. In Thursdays semifinals, Sharapova will face No. 3 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the two-time Australian Open champion, who eliminated her friend and former doubles partner, No. 12 Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to reach the semifinals at the fourth major tournament in a row. Azarenka, who is 7-5 against Sharapova, summed up their latest matchup of power-based games this way: "Definitely going to be exciting and interesting." The other womens semifinal is No. 1 Serena Williams, a 15-time Grand Slam champion, against No. 5 Sara Errani of Italy. They won their quarterfinals Tuesday. Its the first French Open semifinal for Williams since 2003, the year after she won her only title in Paris. Errani, who is 0-5 against Williams, was the runner-up to Sharapova 12 months ago. "I never expected to get to the semifinals this year after making last years final. There was a lot of pressure this year and Im happy that I was able to handle it," Errani said. "Well see how the semifinal goes." Sharapovas 2012 French Open title completed a career Grand Slam, adding to championships at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. For someone who used to mock her own inability to move well on red clay, Sharapova sure is taking to the slow surface nowadays: Shes won 12 consecutive matches at Roland Garros, where her 42-9 career record leads active women. Azarenka has never been as successful on clay as faster grass or hard courts, and Thursdays match will be her first French Open semifinal. But shes getting more and more comfortable on what some players call "dirt." Asked by a reporter to describe her "relationship" with clay, Azarenka joked: "I still dont have any ring on my finger. But I feel like, you know, we made a step forward. We are moving in together." Against 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic, Sharapova needed 35 minutes to win a single game. In the meantime, nearly every point Jankovic claimed was raucously celebrated by a group of four fans sitting behind her brother (who is also her coach). At a changeover, Jankovic looked up at them with a wide smile as they sang her first name and waved a Serbian flag. But eventually, Jankovic began missing more -- and Sharapova began finding the range. A forehand winner helped set up a break point for Sharapova in the second sets first game, and Jankovic handed it over with a double-fault. That was part of a run in which Sharapova won seven of eight points to go ahead 2-0. "Really important. You know, at least give her something to think about," Sharapova said. "She was a bit in cruise control for a long period of time." At 3-all in the third, a pair of Jankovic backhands into the net and one perfect forehand passing shot by Sharapova led to the sets first break point. Sharapova capitalized with a well-timed return of a 107 mph serve, forcing yet another backhand error. The match was nearly two hours old, and Sharapova finally grabbed her first lead. "It was certainly nice to change things around," Sharapova said, "because I wasnt doing much in the first six games."Fjallraven Kanken Big Backpack Sale . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Kanken Backpack Cheap UK . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. http://www.kankenbackpacksaleuk.com/kanken-classic-backpack-uk.html . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Kanken Backpack Sale UK . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Fjallraven Kanken Big Backpack Ochre . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker.AUSTIN, Texas -- Freshman Joyner Holmes arrived at Texas with a big reputation. After a slow start on Wednesday, Holmes showed why.The forward scored 20 of her 22 points during the final three quarters to lead No. 8 Texas past Houston Baptist 98-46.Among the top recruits in the country, the 6-foot-3 Holmes went 8 of 17 from the field with nine rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes.Holmes could have scored more, but she missed several shots early from close range.Im going get in the gym and start making layups, said Holmes, of Cedar Hill, Texas.Brooke McCarty had 16 points and Ariel Atkins and Jada Underwood each scored 11 for Texas (1-1).Lauren Calver led Houston Baptist (0-2) with 11 points, followed by Amanda Johnson with 10.Texas led 19-3 and forced five turnovers in the first four minutes. The Huskies finished the first quarter with eight turnovers -- which Texas turned into 16 points -- but trailed by only 11 after making four 3-pointers.Texas led 57-21 at halftime. Houston Baptist finished with 25 turnovers.Texas encountered a reality check on Monday night on national television, losing 71-59 at No. 11 Stanford. Holmes finished with just three points and three rebounds in 17 minutes against the Cardinal, and other Texas players struggled as well.Holmes is among four new Longhorns who played in the first two games.We do have some things we have to dramatically improve on, Texas coach Karen Aston said. You cant discount jitters in the way we played at Stanford. Some of them need to pay more attention in practice, and they need to pay more attention to detail. Some of them had a little of that `this is my first game look.BIG PICTTUREHouston Baptist: Coach Donna Finnie has a young team with five freshmen and four sophomores.dddddddddddd Theyve already faced top-10 teams in their first two games -- the Huskies lost by 75 points at No. 2 Baylor on Friday. Houston Baptist will move back to its own weight class for most of the remaining non-conference season and in the Southland Conference.People must think were crazy, Finnie said of her tough schedule. I want to test the team early on.Texas: After reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8 the past two seasons, the Longhorns goal is the Final Four in Dallas. The next real test comes Sunday at No. 10 Mississippi State. ... McCarty, a junior, has shifted from shooting guard to point guard after the graduation of Celina Rodrigo. McCarty is averaging 18 points through two games and has converted 6 of 10 3-pointers.MAKE SOME NOISEThe Houston Baptist game was an opportunity for Texas to gain young fans with its annual weekday game. Free tickets were provided to about 5,000 kids from more than 40 elementary schools. Total announced attendance was 6,378.Its always a lot of fun to play this game, Aston said. When you walk out there and you hear those screaming kids, its really exciting. Its community involvement and that is something our players and our program take seriously. Hoping we can get them interested in womens basketball in particular and basketball is a great thing.UP NEXTHouston Baptist: The Huskies host Rice on Saturday.Texas: The Longhorns travel to No. 10 Mississippi State on Sunday. ' ' '