DOHA, Qatar - Serena Williams said she didn’t arrive at the Sony Ericsson Championships expecting to win. Plenty of other people did that for her. Williams bested big sister Venus again yesterday winning 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the season-ending tournament for her third victory of the season. Williams also won Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking earlier in the week. “It feels great,“ said Serena, who also won the WTA Tour’s season-ending event in 2001. “I totally didn’t expect to come here and win.“

TOKYO - Defending champion Dinara Safina and Venus Williams were knocked out of the second round by qualifiers at the Toray Pan Pacific Open yesterday. Chang Kai-chen, an 18-year-old from Taiwan, upset the top-ranked Safina 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5. Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova edged Williams 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 to reach the third round. In another upset, Andrea Petkovic defeated fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Venus Williams moved on, Rafael Nadal came back and Marat Safin said goodbye at the U.S. Open yesterday. Her left knee heavily wrapped, the third-seeded Williams defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-2, in a less taxing match than she had two nights earlier when she fell behind a set before rallying against Vera Dushevina. Nadal, whose knees kept him out of Wimbledon, returned to Grand Slam play with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet, and Safin, a former world No. 1, closed out his Grand Slam career, losing to Jurgen Melzer 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Venus Williams was upset by Marion Bartoli 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the championship match of the Bank of the West Classic yesterday. Williams, making her first appearance at the event since 2005, reached her seventh final in eight appearances at Stanford. She’s won two titles but none since 2002. In other tennis news:

• Sam Querrey ended a string of finalround frustrations by beating Carsten Bell 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to claim the L.A. Tennis Open title. Querrey was playing in his third straight final and fourth of the season but he had yet to win a tournament.

Serena Williams kept telling herself she was facing just another foe in the Wimbledon final yesterday, just another woman who hits the ball quite hard, just another player trying to deny her a Grand Slam title. She wasn’t facing just anyone, of course. She was playing her older sister Venus. And when the latest all-Williams final finished, when Serena wrapped up a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory for a third Wimbledon championship and 11th major title overall, she jogged to the net with her arm extended for a handshake.

WIMBLEDON, England—Venus Williams is just about the perfect older sibling: She supports Serena endlessly, protects her fiercely and even lets her pick which bedroom she wants when they’re on the road. Where does Venus draw the line? At Grand Slam championships. The sisters face each other again in a major final, meeting today for the Wimbledon title for the fourth time.

WIMBLEDON, England—Richard Williams refuses to watch his daughters, Venus and Serena, play each other. Says he simply can’t bear to see it, no matter the setting, no matter the stage. So once again, the patriarch of the greatest sister act in tennis history is heading home to the United States before the Wimbledon final.

women’s semifinals WIMBLEDON, England Wimbledon could be headed for another all-Williams final. Then again, it could be an all-Russian matchup. The Williams sisters are one round away from another Grand Slam championship showdown, but they will first have to get past Russian opponents to set up their eighth meeting in a major final and fourth in the Wimbledon title match.

WIMBLEDON, England—It is looking more and more like another all-Williams Wimbledon final is on the horizon. Only once in the past nine years has there been a Williamsfree women’s final on the hallowed grass of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and three times the sisters have played each other for the title. The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., siblings, who have taken home seven of the past nine Wimbledon championships, are one round from another meeting.

No. 3 Venus Williams will face No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia while No. 2 Serena Williams takes on No. 4 Elena Dementieva of Russia in Thursday’s semifinals.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—Venus and Serena Williams are one round away from meeting in another Wimbledon final. Five-time champion Venus overpowered Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday, and two-time winner Serena followed her into the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka.

Roger Federer (left) is looking to break a tie with Pete Sampras by winning a 15th major championship; Venus Williams is striving to become the first woman to win Wimbledon three straight times since Steffi Graf accomplished the feat from 1991-93. WIMBLEDON, England As Week 1 gives way to Week 2 at Wimbledon today, the primary story lines have not shifted since the beginning of the tournament.

When 17-year-old American Melanie Oudin concluded the biggest match of her life yesterday at Wimbledon, she had trouble finding the exit on cozy Court 3. Still learning her way around the All England Club, Oudin has made it into the fourth round. The qualifier from Marietta, Ga., pulled off the upset of the week by beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (10-8), 7-5, 6-2.

WIMBLEDON, England - Five points into her opening match at Wimbledon, Venus Williams slipped and went sprawling on the grass she loves. The five-time champion recovered from her stumble at the start yesterday and defeated Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-2. It was Williams’ first appearance on Centre Court since the 2008 final, when she beat sister Serena for her second Wimbledon title in a row.

Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion, is bidding to become the first woman to win three consecutive titles since Steffi Graf from 1991-93. WIMBLEDON, England Who says the oldest and most tradition-laden of tennis’ major championships doesn’t change with the times? There is, at long last, a retractable roof atop Centre Court at Wimbledon this year. Video review of line calls and equal prize money for men and women came along ages ago (well, OK, in 2007).