Venus Williams advances at Pan Pacific Open

Venus Williams beat Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, on Thursday to advance to the Pan Pacific Open semifinals in Tokyo for the first time.

Williams, whose previous best in Tokyo was the quarterfinals in 2004, broke Bouchard with a forehand down the line to go up 5-2 in the third set and held on to win the match that lasted three hours at Ariake Colosseum.

Williams will face Petra Kvitova in the semifinals. The seventh-seeded Czech beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 6-1.

Also, fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, to set up a semifinal with fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany, who ousted second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-4, 6-4.

ETC.

Torres has knee surgery

San Jose Sharks forward Raffi Torres has undergone surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Torres had the operation Thursday and General Manager Doug Wilson said he is expected back this season.

Torres was injured in a collision with Ducks forward Emerson Etem on Sept. 20.

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Lindsay Whalen and Maya Moore scored 20 points apiece and Seimone Augustus had 18 to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 85-62 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the WNBA Western Conference finals at Minneapolis.

Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points, Angel McCoughtry had 18 and the host Atlanta Dream beat the Indiana Fever, 84-79, for a 1-0 lead in the WNBA Eastern Conference finals. Tamika Catchings led Indiana with 21.

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England’s Oliver Wilson boosted his chances of regaining a European Tour card, shooting an eight-under-par 64 for a share of the first-round lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.