Nowell, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie also penned new three-year contracts at Sandy Park.Re

LONDON -- She strode to the net with a clenched fist and a dazzling smile and, after politely shaking hands with yet another opponent, Venus Williams began to giggle like a 12-year-old.As she waved to the appreciative patrons of Court No. 1, she couldnt stop.At the age of 36, Venus remains a phenomenon, defying gravity, not to mention all the conventional laws of physics.On Tuesday, she handled another younger opponent, unseeding 28-year-old Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (5), 6-2 to advance to the semifinals at the All England Club.Oh, wow, Venus said in her off-the-court interview with the BBC. Somehow, I walked out of that with the [first] set. When you can walk to the net as a winner, thats the goal, thats the dream.Against great odds, Venus continues to live that dream.Next up: No. 4 Angelique Kerber, a straight-sets winner over No. 5 Simona Halep 7-5, 7-6 (2).It is not too early to start imagining a fifth Serena-Venus Wimbledon final -- the first, incredibly, came 14 years ago.Putting Venus success this fortnight into a proper context is becoming an increasingly difficult proposition.No, she shouldnt be doing this, said Mary Joe Fernandez, the U.S. Fed Cup captain and the U.S. Olympic team coach in Rio de Janeiro. Its ridiculous, crazy good.Shes incredibly resilient. She has a great attitude, and its put her in position to compete here.Venus is the No. 8-ranked player in the world, which is even more impressive when you consider shes dealing with Sjogrens syndrome, a chronic condition that causes aching joints and bouts of low energy.Here, in her 19th Wimbledon, she tied the Open era record with 71 Grand Slam appearances. And then she became the oldest woman to advance to a major quarterfinal in 22 years, when Martina Navratilova made the final at the age of 37.Wimbledon, of course, has been Venus signature event. Her unparalleled movement and power landed her in eight finals in the span of a decade. Hard to believe that it was 16 years ago when she beat Lindsay Davenport in the 2000 championship match.The last one was in 2009, when Venus lost to Serena. Lately, it has been more difficult here; this was Venus first Wimbledon quarterfinal in six years.Yeah, semifinals feels good, Venus said. But it doesnt feel foreign at all, lets put it that way. ...?Yeah, the road was six years. They go by fast thankfully. But Ive been blessed, been really blessed, to have an opportunity to be here, have had an opportunity in the past to do this. I dont have any regrets about anything thats taken place in between. Its been a journey, but its made me stronger.Fernandez compared Venus, circa 2000, to the present player.Her movement was unbelievable, said Fernandez, also an ESPN analyst. She doesnt have that any more. But today, she makes the most out of what shes still got: power, her great play at net and her long reach.Its just that now every match is an odyssey -- you just dont know. Sometimes depends on how she feels when she wakes up that day.There were times Tuesday when Venus looked her age. She was in position most of the time, but balls that were clearing the net in her earlier matches here sometimes found the net.With the score 2-all in the first-set tiebreaker, Venus hit a vintage approach shot, got a high ball at net -- and clunked an easy winner into the net, then promptly fell down. Shvedova raced off to a 5-2 lead and the set seemed lost. And then Venus won the last five points to take the extra session.In reality, Shvedova lost it; she made five errors, four on the forehand side, to give Williams the first set.She settled in quickly and calmly to break Shvedova in the third and fifth games to secure the second set.Chris Evert was 34 when she made the semifinals here in 1989. She retired later that year after the US Open.Its been inspiring and impressive that shes still here, still in the game, Evert said. Thats more impressive to me than the fact shes in the quarters. Shes enjoying it, winning matches. She doesnt have to be No. 1 to be happy.She keeps coming back and back again.Ah, but will she come back next year??Retiring is the easy way out, Williams said. I dont have time for easy. Tennis is just hard.On the first day of the fortnight, she described this infinity inside you that feels like it could go on forever.On Tuesday, she explained why.I love playing the game, Venus said afterward. I always have. Of course, winning matches makes it much sweeter. The wins and the losses always lead to these big moments, unless youre Serena Williams.Meaning that Serena doesnt experience the downs that mere mortals do.But as Venus Williams, Venus said, this is an awesome day. Yeezy 350 V2 Authentic . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Cheap Yeezys For Sale . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. http://www.cheapyeezy350sale.com/ .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Cheap Yeezy 350 Mens . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Cheap Yeezy 350 v2 Clay For Sale . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Aviva Premiership club Exeter have announced new deals for three more key members of their squad.England Saxons forwards Don Armand, Alec Hepburn and Mitch Lees have all agreed fresh terms following on from?the recent announcement that England international trio Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie also penned new three-year contracts at Sandy Park.Reflecting on the latest deals, Exeter head coach Rob Baxter said: These are players we have gone out and looked at and thought very highly of, and have brought them through either from Championship level, or with Don, the level below Super 15, because he hadnt quite broken into that level over there.They have added a lot in their short time they have been with us, and we think they are players who are going to play a big, big part in the futuure of the club going forward.ddddddddddddMitch and Don had real stand-out seasons last year and they are starting to show that they could be two of the best back-five forwards in the Premiership, and that was shown by them going on the Saxons tour [to South Africa], while Alec has just been getting better and better in his time with us.We made a decision to bring him in early to the club and nurse him through some injury rehab, and I think that was a really good decision.It allowed him to put some foundation work in, which allowed him to have a good season last year, and I thought he was absolutely fantastic on the Saxons tour, probably one of the stand-out forwards. 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