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KIRSTYWIGGLESWORTH—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Serena Williams returns a ball to Heather Watson during their singles match Friday at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. ByHowardFendrich TheAssociatedPress LONDON Twice, Serena Williams stood merely two points from a loss at Wimbledon against a British oppo- nent buoyed by a roaring, flag-wav- ing Centre Court crowd. Twice, Williams was oh-so-close to the end of her bid for a fourth consec- utive major title — and for the third leg of a calendar-year Grand Slam. And twice, pushed to the preci- pice, Williams regrouped, resisted and wound up winning, as she so often does. Stomping her foot after misses, alternately screaming in delight or despair, even wagging her finger at fans who booed her, the No. 1-seeded Williams overcame a surprisingly staunch challenge from 59th-ranked Heather Watson and emerged with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory in the third round Friday. "I honestly didn't think I was go- ing to win," said Williams, who trailed 3-0 and 5-4 in the final set. "How I pulled through, I really don't know." Her 24th victory in a row at Grand Slam tournaments sets up a show- down Monday against another five- time Wimbledon champion, her older sister Venus. "We've been facing each other a long time," said the 16th-seeded Ve- nus, who eliminated 82nd-ranked Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2. This will be the 26th all-Williams matchup, and first at a major since Serena beat Venus in the 2009 Wim- bledon final. "It's unfortunate that it's so soon," Serena said. Other women's fourth-round- ers Monday: 2004 champion Maria Sharapova vs. Zarina Diyas; Victo- ria Azarenka vs. Belinda Bencic; and French Open runner-up Lucie Safa- rova vs. CoCo Vandeweghe of the U.S., who had never been this far at a major. Men's matchups: defending cham- pion Novak Djokovic vs. Kevin An- derson; French Open champion Stan WIMBLEDON Serenawins,Venusupnext Williamssisterstomeet for 26th time in careers in 4th-round matchup By Jerome Pugmire The Associated Press UTRECHT,NETHERLANDS Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali did not see much of rival Chris Froome the last time they raced each other. That's because Froome was a dot on the horizon. At the Criterium du Dauphine race last month, Froome sent out a major warning to Nibali — and others — that he is in great form, clinching overall victory on the back of two dashing stage wins in the mountains. Nibali, mean- while, finished 12th. Their rivalry resumes Satur- day, when the Tour gets underway with a short and sharp 8.6-mile individual time trial in the cy- cling-mad Dutch city of Utrecht. Froome, the 2013 Tour winner, is feeling extremely confident. "I've come to the start of this race in perfect condition. I'm surrounded by what I think is the strongest team in the race," Froome said on Friday. "It's prob- ably going to be one of the most TOUR DE FRANCE Nibali to stay closer to Froome this time By Rachel Cohen The Associated Press A generation of American women who grew up playing sports because of Title IX now makes up the television audience that advertisers covet. Today's adults were young, im- pressionable fans when Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey to celebrate the winning pen- alty kick at the 1999 Women's World Cup, and even earlier when the buzz of soccer landed in the United States for the 1994 men's tournament. Now those grown-ups are tun- ing in to this Women's World Cup — with their kids alongside. Viewership is up big for this summer's tournament, with a ma- jor assist coming simply from ge- ography. With the event in Can- ada, the most important games air in prime time in the U.S. on Fox's networks during the first North American Women's World Cup since 2003. But patterns within the view- WOMEN'S WORLD CUP Viewership up for American fans of soccer On a night filled with emotion and packed city squares, nay- saying Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his "yes" vote rivals made their final pitches at bailout referendum rallies. CASH CRISIS Greekcampaigns reach dramatic finale FULLSTORYONPAGEB8 By Andrew Baggarly Bay Area News Group WASHINGTON Jake Peavy hadn't pitched on a major league mound since mid-April. His back and hip injuries are chronic by nature. His minor league rehab starts were a mixed bag. You could say expecta- tions were tempered when he re- turned Friday night. But on a pleasant evening at Nationals Park, it was Peavy's temperament that took over. For six innings, he spit fire and shut out an NL East-leading club while carrying over a streak of domi- nance that San Francisco Giants pitchers began here last October. It all went up with one swing in a 2-1 loss. Clint Robinson broad- sided an 89-mph fastball for a two-run home run, leaving Peavy to rant and rave in the dugout and leaving the Giants still looking for a win four games deep into this road trip. "There's a lot to build on, and it's nice to show everybody in this room that I'm healthy," said Peavy, who yielded just three hits in 6 1/3 innings. "It's hard to simulate this game in the minor leagues, and it's nice to get in the swing of things. "But you expect to win. I wouldn't be here if I didn't ex- pect to win." The Giants keep expecting to win on this trip. They led at some juncture in all four games, but Buster Posey's home run in the top of the seventh provided a fleeting advantage. Peavy pitched carefully while issuing a seven- pitch walk to Bryce Harper to start the bottom of the seventh. Then Robinson continued the BASEBALL GIANTS FALL AFTER RETURN OF PEAVY San Francisco still looking for 1st win 4 games deep into current road trip; try early Saturday The San Francisco Giants' Joe Panik (12) connects with the ball, but flies out to center, during the third inning Friday against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington. PHOTOS BY ALEX BRANDON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jake Peavy (22) hits a sacrifice bunt during the third inning Friday against the Washington Nationals in Washington. NATIONALS 2, GIANTS 1 Up next: San Francisco Giants at Washington Nationals, 8:05a.m. Saturday, TV on CSNBA, MLBN. THESCORE Online: For more stories on the San Francisco Giants visit the website REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/GIANTS. In a message to Washing- ton, Iran's foreign minister on Friday called for an end to "coercion and pressure" at the nuclear talks, suggesting a deal acceptable to his country will lead to cooperation. NEGOTIATIONS Iran nuke deal could bring closer ties to US FULL STORY ON PAGE B8 The Red Bluff American Legion Post 167Bulls 17U put up six runs in the fourth inning en route to an 11-2win in five innings over the Spokane Expos No. 2on Thursday. AMERICAN LEGION Big inning leads to big win for U17 Bulls The Mercy High School Trinity Golf Classic Tournament is scheduled for 4:30p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1at Oak Creek Golf Course. Four-person scramble. Call Sabrina Rhodes at 529-4439for registration. MERCY HIGH Trinity Golf Classic Tournament set TENNIS PAGE 2 CYCLING PAGE 2 SOCCER PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, July 4, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1