NEW YORK-- Russian left-hander Ekaterina Makarova made her best mark in grand slam singles by outslugging Victoria Azarenka, the U.S. Open runner-up the last two years, 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open.

The 17th-seeded Russian was steadier and more explosive with her big groundstrokes in dismissing the 16th seed from Belarus and advancing to the last four of a major for the first time after four losses in the quarter-finals stage.

Boldly going for winners at every opportunity against the former world number one, Makarova pressured Azarenka to a dozen break points and cashed in twice in each set for her victory.

"I'm feeling amazing. Finally I'm in a semi-finals, finally I'm here," the 26-year-old Makarova, who is better known for her doubles exploits, told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. "It's a great feeling."

Makarova has hoisted major trophies but always as part of a partnership, as winner of the French Open doubles in 2013 with Elena Vesnina and in mixed doubles at the 2012 U.S. Open with Brazilian Bruno Soares.

The Russian, however, has thrived on her own racket in Flushing Meadows in the year's last grand slam by advancing without the loss of a set, eliminating seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard in overbearing heat in the process.

Makarova, who won her second career singles title at this year's Pattay City event in Thailand, will meet either two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams or 11th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy for a berth in the final.

No Excuses

Azarenka, a two-times winner of the Australian Open, showed some rust from a season marred by foot and knee injures that forced her to withdraw from seven events and sent her ranking plunging from number two to 17th.

She also showed some frustration, earning a warning for racket abuse after being broken to fall behind 4-2 in the second set when her backhand tipped the net cord and landed just wide.

"Give credit to my opponent," the charismatic 24-year-old Belarussian told reporters in a hushed voice. "She played really well today. Am I disappointed? Yes, but I tried my best."

Azarenka's agent said on Twitter that she had suffered from a case of food poisoning on Tuesday but the 16th seed refused to comment.

"I'm not going to make any excuses," said Azarenka, who led their head-to-head series 3-2 but had won their previous two matches on hard court. "She deserves to win. She played much better than me today."

It was an entertaining match between two aggressive, power hitters but Makarova proved much steadier with her service game as she faced just three break points in the match, saving two, and took advantage of six double faults.

Azarenka drew first blood, breaking in the fifth game of the first set at 3-2 but Makarova broke right back, and broke again in the 10th game as she took advantage of loose groundstrokes from the Belarussian.

Makarova dominated the second set, keeping up the pressure after Azarenka saved four break points in the second game and two more in the fourth to remain level at 2-2.

The Russian finally broke through on Azarenka's next serve and clinched the quarter-final by breaking in the final game for an emphatic end to her 87-minute victory.

Barcelona beaten at last

LONDON-- Leaders Barcelona slumped to their first La Liga defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 2-1 at Atletico Madrid, after second-placed Real Madrid beat Xerez 3-0 on Saturday with a double from Cristiano Ronaldo.

In Italy, AS Roma eased past Palermo 4-1 for their ninth consecutive win in all competitions while Bayern Munich made it 12 victories in a row with a 3-1 Bundesliga triumph over Borussia Dortmund.

SPAIN

Champions Barcelona, missing five first-team defenders, lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid on Sunday, their first league defeat of the season in their 22nd match.

Diego Forlan's clinical finish and a superb Simao Sabrosa free kick put Atletico 2-0 ahead before Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back.

Second-placed Real Madrid trimmed Barca's lead to two points with a 3-0 win at Xerez, Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice on his return from a two-match ban after Alvaro Arbeloa had opened the scoring.

ITALY

Leaders Inter Milan drew 0-0 at Napoli in an entertaining game in which both sides hit the woodwork but the hosts probably deserved to win.

Midfielder Matteo Brighi scored twice as second-placed AS Roma kept up the pressure with a 4-1 win over Palermo, their ninth victory in a row in all competitions.

AC Milan, in third, warmed up for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Manchester United with a 3-2 home win over Udinese, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netting twice.

Juventus ended a dreadful run of form thanks to Alessandro Del Piero's controversial late penalty in a 3-2 victory over Genoa.

GERMANY

Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich won at home to stay level on points at the top of the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen beat fading champions VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 on a miserable afternoon for visiting goalkeeper Andre Lenz and Bayern came from behind for a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

It was the 12th win in a row in all competitions for Louis van Gaal's Bayern.

ENGLAND

Aston Villa skipper Stilian Petrov headed an equaliser three minutes from time to force a 2-2 draw at second tier Crystal Palace in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.

Holders Chelsea eased into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 win over Cardiff City, another second tier side, while Portsmouth won by the same score at local rivals Southampton.

Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou scored for Chelsea while Michael Chopra replied for Cardiff.

FRANCE

Leaders Girondins Bordeaux beat St Etienne 3-1 to stay three points clear of Montpellier.

Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh headed champions Bordeaux in front before two goals from Brazilian Wendel secured the points. Bakary Sako replied.

Montpellier beat Grenoble 1-0.

PORTUGAL

Benfica stayed top with a 1-0 home win over bottom side Belenenses, Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo heading in a cross by Brazil midfielder Ramires in the 10th minute.

Braga kept up the pressure when they beat Maritimo 2-1 to stay one point behind.

NETHERLANDS

PSV Eindhoven went three points clear at the top after a 1-0 win at Heracles Almelo, Swede Ola Toivonen heading the winner in the 58th minute.

Second-placed Twente Enschede won 2-1 at Vitesse Arnhem.

GREECE

Champions Olympiakos Piraeus closed the gap on Super League leaders Panathinaikos to three points by beating Asteras Tripolis 3-1 helped by two goals from Democratic Republic of Congo forward Lomana Lua Lua.

Ieroklis Stoltidis was also on target for Olympiakos and Luiz Eder pulled one back for Asteras.

Panathinaikos went down to a shock 2-0 home defeat against Kavala, Polish midfielder Ebi Smolarek scoring both goals in the second half.

VALENCIA, Spain-- U.S. challengers BMW Oracle won the 33rd America's Cup on Sunday, beating Swiss holders Alinghi in the second race to claim the best-of-three series 2-0 in a triumph of superior design and technology.

Software mogul Larry Ellison's giant trimaran, featuring a towering wing-shaped sail, beat Alinghi by more than a kilometre in the second race off the Spanish port of Valencia.

Ellison, an accomplished ocean racer who had never made it to an America's Cup match before, proudly steered his space-age boat back to port as night fell, hugging and congratulating his crew members.

"It's an absolutely awesome feeling. I couldn't be more proud," Ellison told America's Cup television.

"Alinghi sailed really hard today," he said.

Ellison's BMW Oracle team was beaten by Alinghi, backed by banking and biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, in the final of the 2003 challengers series for the America's Cup, which the Swiss went on to win from holders New Zealand.

The 2010 event came after more than two years of often bitter legal wrangles between Ellison and Bertarelli over the America's Cup rules, battles which sometimes spilled over into sniping between the teams.

Alinghi had been flying a protest flag during the race, meaning the result was provisional until the complaint was heard. An Alinghi spokesman said later it had been withdrawn.

An American team had not won sailing's oldest and most prestigious prize since Bill Koch's America3 beat Italians Il Moro de Venezia in 1992.

It was a convincing victory for Ellison's boat, a unique trimaran featuring a revolutionary wing-shaped mast and mainsail configuration the height of a 20-storey building.

The carbon fibre and kevlar American boat hit speeds of up to 33 knots, incredibly more than four times the speed of the wind, as it surged away on the second leg to lead by more than 2,100 metres.

Alinghi, with Bertarelli at the helm, finished 5 mins 26 seconds behind BMW Oracle after a miserable race.

Bertarelli's team made an error in pre-start manoeuvres, earning a penalty which had to be executed before they could finish.

The Swiss catamaran made up good ground to lead on the first leg of the 39-nautical mile race but were then blown off the water by BMW Oracle's superior speed.

"We were at the limit and couldn't push it any harder," Alinghi crew member Pierre-Yves Jorand told reporters.

"They did a great job and for sure the wing is a fantastic tool," he said.

BMW Oracle won Friday's first race equally easily.

Sunday's race finally got under way after delays of more than six hours as race officials waited for suitable wind.

VANCOUVER-- Sven Kramer banished his painful memories of Turin four years ago with a dominating performance to win the Olympic 5,000 metres speed skating gold medal on Saturday.

"This is the biggest one," the powerful Dutchman told reporters after claiming his first Olympic gold. "This is the most important one."

Kramer waited four years to wash away his disappointment in Turin where he had to settle for silver in the 5,000 and lost what seemed a near certain Dutch gold in the Team Pursuit when he fell and they ended up with bronze.

"The pressure was so high in Holland and yeah, I said, 'I must do this.' Finally, I'm pretty happy."

Kramer had won just about everything in sight since Turin.

Three times in a row he took the world all-around title. He set world records in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres and Team Pursuit, claimed six long-distance titles and won every race but one on the World Cup circuit over the past year.

"I worked my ass off to win this medal," he said. "It's an amazing feeling."

Kramer was cheered by the large Dutch contingent as soon as he stripped off for his warm-up laps.

The cheers from his frenzied orange-clad countrymen never stopped until he used his long pounding strides to complete victory by a massive 2.35 seconds.

Fans back home were no doubt also cheering. Those who signed up with a Dutch power company which is one of his sponsors will receive a discount of 50 euros for every gold medal he wins.

"I knew I couldn't go any faster. I gave it all," he said. "I was completely dead after the race. I think it was one of my best races."

Once victory was assured, Kramer climbed into the stands to hug his father Yep, a former Dutch Olympic speed skater, mother Elli and girlfriend Naomi Van As.

Kramer has visions of more Vancouver gold. He will be the overwhelming favorite in the 10,000 metres and yearns to make up for his 2006 error in the Team Pursuit title.

His victory allowed him to match Naomi in the Olympic gold department as she was in the Dutch team that won the field hockey crown in Beijing.

"Yeah I want to have more than her," he grinned. "I have two weeks left."