Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Reigning champion Serena Williams went the distance in order to win her quarterfinal match, while Maria Sharapova had an easier time reaching the semifinals at the $4 million Madrid Open, a clay- court French Open tune-up. The world No. 1 Williams barely got past Spanish wild card Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3, 0-6, 7-5, in 2 hours, 14 minutes at the Magic Box. Medina Garrigues lost despite recording more service breaks (5-4) than her American counterpart on Friday. After getting bageled in the second set, Williams fell behind 2-4 in the third, despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead, as Medina Garrigues won 10-of-12 games at one point. But the American great rallied, breaking the 63rd-ranked Spaniards serve twice en route to one of her trademark come-from-behind victories. "It was definitely a battle," Williams said. "I obviously didnt do much in the second set and gave her confidence to play better." The Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Williams, who beat Victoria Azarenka in last years marquee Madrid finale, is now 29-2 this season. Shell meet 2012 French Open runner-up Sara Errani on Saturday. Williams is a perfect 4-0 lifetime against Errani, including a victory in the U.S. Open semifinals last year. Meanwhile, the second-seeded former No. 1 and reigning French Open titlist Sharapova stayed hot by handling Estonian slugger Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-4 on Day 7 in the Spanish capital. The world No. 2 Sharapova is seeking her second title in two events, having recently run the table in Stuttgart. Her semifinal opponent will be fellow French Open winner and fellow former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Williams and Sharapova could clash in a blockbuster final here on Sunday. A 16th-seeded Ivanovic upended sixth-seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1, while the aforementioned Italian Errani, seeded seventh this week, reached the semis by tackling Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-3. Ivanovic will meet Sharapova for a ninth time, seeking a third victory. The Russian beat the Serb in the 2008 Australian Open final and in a quarterfinal in Stuttgart just two weeks ago. Cheap Air Max 90 China .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. Wholesale Air Max 90 .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. http://www.cheapairmax90clearance.com/ . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Red Air Max 90 2018 . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Grey Air Max 90 2018 . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. JOLIET, Ill. -- Asked what drivers worry him as he seeks a second-straight Sprint Cup title, Kyle Busch identified Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.Both compete for smaller teams that get engines and other technical support from the large, multi-car organizations. And their success heading into the start of NASCARs 10-race playoff Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway is starting to annoy the big boys.It hurts to be outrun by somebody in your equipment, six-time champion Jimmie Johnson said.Of the 16 drivers to qualify for the season-ending Chase, half are from teams outside the behemoth organizations of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske.Its a slippery slope, Johnson said. I mean, I think that Gibbs and Hendrick and these bigger teams will really have to think hard about alliances that they put together.Hendrick, Johnsons team, makes engines for Chip Ganassi Racing, which employs Larson. Gibbs, Buschs boss, has an alliance with Furniture Row Racing and Truex.Stewart-Haas Racing, which has three drivers in the Chase, gets its engines from Hendrick and it has fueled a rivalry between Johnson and Kevin Harvick. But that agreement ends after the season when SHR shifts from Chevrolet to Ford, leaving for some awkward moments as the teams share information this season.The deals are in place to cut down on costs for the smaller teams and also provide overhead relief for the big teams while ensuring a healthy number of entrants, which had been declining.Ill use Stewart-Haas as an example for us. They get our best stuff, and theyre not a small organization. They have a huge engineering staff, Johnson said. So they take our best equipment, thats part of the deal, fully refined, what were racing, then their engineering staff gets to work on it and make it better.?Same thing is going on at Gibbs.?Theyre providing all that equipment to the 78 (Truex) car, and theyre smart people.?Thats pretty good, but Im going to tweak this and that, and they make it better yet.Its brought a different dynamic to the third year of the current Chase format, which calls for three rounds of elimination before the Nov. 20 finale at Homestead. Johnnson, the No.dddddddddddd 8 seed, is the highest-ranked Hendrick driver in the field.Johnson has had uncharacteristic mistakes this season as he aims for a seventh title, which would tie the record for NASCARs top circuit held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.I dont like where were at, Johnson said. Were working hard.?Theres a lot of optimism and a lot of great things happening.?We just need to deliver consistently and execute at the track.?Busch has led the most laps this season and will start Sundays race from the pole after qualifying Friday was rained out. But Busch is far from comfortable with Truex having so much success in his own Toyota.Even though were top seed, we may not be the favorite right now, Busch said. Actually, Id probably look at the 78 car for having the most raw speed here as of late. Thats the guy were probably all chasing at the moment.Busch also had praise for Larson, who won at Michigan and joins Jamie McMurray to give Ganassi two drivers in the Chase for the first time. Busch called Larson a good fantasy league pick.Hes cheap but, man, he can definitely punch out the results, Busch said. And theyve shown that the last couple of weeks of having good cars and good speed and being right there in the running for the final finish.Larson, in his third season in the Sprint Cup, is confident entering his first Chase because of his success on 1.5-mile tracks like Chicagoland.Ive ran good at most all of them in the past, specially 2014 we had a good run in the last 10 races, Larson said.?Even last year there were a couple where we did well at.?I could have won Homestead last year had that caution not come out at the end.For the competitive Busch, the evening of the field has provided more motivation to beat the likes of Truex, who had a dominating win at Charlotte.Given that were within the same organization, same team, and have all the same stuff, its on us as the 18 team, Busch said, Its on us to be able to go out there and race and get the same or better results than they can. ' ' '