Victoria Azarenka’s coach Sam Sumyk tells ESPN.com that the world No. 4 and Wimbledon semifinalist wants to prove she’s not physically fragile. The 21-year-old has retired from four matches since March and 12 times since the start of 2010. She is traveling with a full-time physical trainer, Scott Byrnes, who worked with Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova. She’ll play Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.

“It’s not a good thing, but believe me, it’s killing her inside,” Sumyk said. “It really bothers her. We’re trying to figure out what’s happening. So far, I will say she’s made the right decision and was wise every time. That’s the main thing right now. She’s young and her best sponsor is her body, and she has to take care of that.”



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It was all about the serves at Wimbledon on Thursday, and it was Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova who survived the ups and downs on Centre Court to reach the final. The fifth-seeded Sharapova, who won the first of her three Grand Slam titles at the All England Club in 2004, overcame 13 double-faults to beat Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-3.

Six-time champion Roger Federer was eliminated in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the second straight year, wasting a two-set lead before losing 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. Federer looked to be heading for another routine victory on Centre Court after dominating the second-set tiebreaker.

Rafael Nadal’s left foot is bothering him, and that alone is giving just about every tennis fan in Britain hope that Andy Murray can finally end the nation’s Wimbledon drought. They will play each other in the semifinals on Friday. “I’m not worried about my foot,” said Nadal, who beat Murray in the semifinals at the All England Club last year and again at the same stage at the…

The head of British women’s tennis quit Thursday to become the new coach of former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Nigel Sears spent 4 1/2 years as a head coach at the Lawn Tennis Association and was also the captain of Britain’s Fed Cup team. Ivanovic has struggled to maintain the form that won her the French Open in 2008 as age 20.

Novak Djokovic overcame his protege at Wimbledon on Wednesday, holding on to reach the semifinals for the third time in his career with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic. Djokovic has been practicing with Tomic on-and-off since the two became friends last year in Australia, but this was the first meeting between the two in a competitive match.

Bernard Tomic has never been short of confidence. And his performance at Wimbledon showed why. In January, the teenager told an Australian newspaper that he was sure he would be the world’s top-ranked player one day. At that point, he was 17 and had won one tour-level match. At 18, he is a Wimbledon quarterfinalist and after losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to second-seeded Novak Djokovic, he said his…

Walking away from Centre Court, Oracene Price – mother and sometimes-coach to Serena and Venus Williams – shook her head after watching one daughter lose at Wimbledon, then the other. Undeniably great as she is, even defending champion Serena found it too tough to make a deep run at her first Grand Slam tournament in a year after a series of health scares.

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