ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals of the WTA Championships by sweeping past Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. Williams, the defending champion, won all three matches in her group without dropping a set. Shes bidding for her fourth title in the elite, eight-women tournament. Earlier, Li Na outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 for her second victory in two matches and eight-seeded Angelique Kerber upset No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 to remain in contention for the semifinals. Radwanska was eliminated. Kerber went 0-3 last year in the tournament and this was her first win in the event. She will play Kvitova on Friday for a slot in the last four. Williams needed to win only a set to qualify and she breezed through the first despite fighting off three break points in the very first game. She quickly warmed up to overwhelm the fifth-seeded Kvitova, who won Wimbledon and the WTA title in 2011. Kvitova had to withdraw last year because of injury. "Something told me to hold serve in that game, and Im glad I did," Williams said. "Could have definitely changed things. I could still be out there. I really just dug deep and tried to hold. "When I play top players or a Grand Slam winner, such as Kvitova who has such a dangerous game, youve got to go in there knowing that anything can happen, and I have to be really focused." Williams did not stop after the first set and broke serve again for a decisive 3-1 lead in the second. Williams set up a match point with a service winner and won when Kvitovas return sailed into the net. She finished with 11 aces. "I think her serve is really big, so I knew I wanted to hold. I served well," said Williams, who has never lost to Kvitova in five matches. Williams, 32, is enjoying the finest season in her career, having already won 10 titles. She added the French Open and U.S. Open titles to bring her Grand Slam record to 17 championships and is 76-4 for the year. Making her eighth appearance in the event, Williams is looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007. Henin was also the last to win 10 titles in a season, in 2007. Williams has clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in her career after 2002 and 2009. The key to Lis victory in an error-filled match full of long rallies was her break of serve in the third set for a 4-3 lead. She never looked behind again, winning the last three games. Jankovic hit a backhand into the net on Lis second match point. The fourth-seeded Li has a 2-0 record in the White Group and looks likely to advance to the semifinals for the first time. Seventh-seeded Jankovic is 1-1. Jankovic is back in the tournament for the first time in three years. The two of them and Victoria Azarenka are vying to make the semis. "It was tight, yeah, but at least its better than the last two years," said Li, who won only once in 2011 and 2012. She was pleased to add she had one foot in the semis but her other foot was "still out of the door." Kerber is 1-1 in the Red Group. Radwanska fell to 0-3. "Im feeling good," Kerber said. "I was really playing very well today ... I was focused from the first point." Li holds a 6-4 career edge over her Serbian friend, but she had to work hard for her win. Both players were inconsistent and error-prone. Li had 45 unforced errors and 21 winners, Jankovic 36 unforced errors and 17 winners. "We had a great fight," Jankovic said. "In the third set it was just a couple of points. I got broken in that (seventh) game. She lobbed me, and the ball went on the line." Li followed the lob with a crisp backhand winner to take the game. "They were the crucial points at that stage and made a difference," Jankovic said. Brandon Brooks Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. DeAndre Carter Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. http://www.officialphiladelphiaeaglesfoo...z-jersey-womens. Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. The latest from Bob As tweeted by TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie on Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets need to resolve their offseason plans with forward R. Jerome Brown Jersey . -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson is being checked for a possible concussion after blowing a tire on his way to the first workout of spring training. Haloti Ngata Jersey . Vonn flew back to Vail, Colo., last week after hurting her surgically repaired right knee at a downhill race in France. "Her knee was swollen again after Val dIsere," U.S. womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser told The Associated Press.LUBBOCK, Texas - An MRI taken Tuesday night shows hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe didnt have a large stroke this week, as the family had feared, his son said.In a text message to The Associated Press, Mark Howe said the test showed his father didnt have a big stroke on Monday. He couldnt immediately provide other details of the MRI, including whether hed sustained a minor stroke. He said the family planned to release a statement.Earlier Tuesday, the hockey players daughter, Cathy Purnell, said her father suffered a significant stroke on Monday, which would have been his third since late October. Howe was stable and a little bit alert Tuesday morning, and doctors at a Lubbock hospital where he was taken were scheduled to do additional tests, she said.Hes a fighter, Purnell said. The man is tough. He has this will to keep going, all things considered.The man known as Mr.dddddddddddd. Hockey set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, records later broken by Wayne Gretzky.Purnell said therapists who have been tending to Howe arrived at her house Monday morning and discovered him nonresponsive in bed. Howe remained that way until evening, when Purnell said he recognized family members once he became alert.Howe suffered what his children called a serious stroke in late October and another in early November. He has been staying at his daughters home in Lubbock.She said the family wants to get the 86-year-old Howe back to her house as soon as possible.It scares the daylight out of me, Purnell said, adding that she told him Monday night to stop pulling these games on me. He gave me a smile. His sense of humour is intact.___Jeff McMurray in Chicago contributed to this report. 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