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NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Caroline Wozniacki beat American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (6), 6-2 on Thursday to reach the semifinals in New Haven for the sixth consecutive year. The four-time champion is 23-1 at the Connecticut Tennis Center, with her lone loss coming a year ago when she had to retire from the semifinals because of a knee injury. "Thank you for making me feel old, Im really not," the 23-year-old said. "Im pretty proud of my achievement actually. I think its pretty impressive." The former top ranked player will play Simona Halep on Friday. The Romanian beat Russias Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 7-6 (6). The other semifinal will feature two players from the Czech Republic. Defending champion Petra Kvitova beat Russias Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. She will face Klara Zakopolova, who came from a set down to beat Russian Elena Vesnina 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Stephens, a 20-year-old rising U.S. star, stayed with Wozniacki early and was serving for the set after breaking the Danish star in the ninth game. But Wozniacki broke back to tie the set at 5-5 and never trailed in the tiebreaker, winning 8-6. Wozniacki broke Stephens in the third game of the second set, and put the match away with another break to go up 5-2. "We both were playing well," said Stephens, who is still looking for her first WTA tournament title. "Its just unfortunate that I lost the tiebreaker. But I thought we both played really well." Kvitova needed three sets and a full day to make her return to the semifinals. Rain delayed the start of play in the early matches by more than an hour and a half, and she was forced to sit through a second, hour-long rain delay, during play. It was the third three-set match of the tournament for the defending New Haven champion, who leads the WTA Tours top 100 players with 29 this season. She improved to 18-11 in those contests. "I know Im playing a lot of three-set matches, thats why I probably know if I lose the first set, still I can go to the third," Kvitova said. "I dont feel like without energy in the third set, so thats good sign, too." Zakopalova also came from behind to win her quarterfinal, finding her confidence in the second set, which she won in 28 minutes. She was serving for the match at 5-2 before Vesnina rallied, coming within a point of tying the set. "I was just fighting for every point," Zakopalova said. "In the end I was a little bit more lucky, I think." Their match and the earlier quarterfinal between Halep and Makarova were forced to the grandstand court by the rain. Fewer than 20 fans watched as Halep jumped out early, taking the first 6-1 while breaking Makarovas serve four times. The second rain delay came with the players tied at 1-1 in the second, and when play resumed Makarova made a run, winning the next two games. "I was a little bit nervous after (the rain)," Halep said. "I played really slow after. But I came back from 4-2 again and I did well." The Romanian broke serve in the eighth game, and won the tiebreaker 8-6. She is looking for her fourth tournament title this summer and said she likes where her game is heading into next weeks U.S. Open. "Im a bit tired right now," she said. "But I want to play tomorrow, to try my best. After that I will see what will happen." This is the first quarterfinal in the tournaments history that didnt include either of the top two seeds. Sara Errani and Angelique Kerber both lost earlier in the week in the second round. Kvitova, Wozniacki and Stephens were the only seeded players to make it past round two. The players got a little excitement before play began Thursday. A fire alarm, caused by smoke from someone cooking in the players lounge, forced the evacuation of the Connecticut Tennis Center for about 15 minutes. "It was OK, when we were waiting for the match, some fun," Kvitova said. 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Rousey will put her perfect 8-0 record and hardware on the line against another undefeated fighter, 7-0 Sara McMann in the main event of UFC 170, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada on February 22nd. Renault has confirmed it has signed Nico Hulkenberg on a multi-year deal starting in 2017.Speculation over Renaults driver line-up has been rumbling on for months, but on Friday the French manufacturer confirmed Hulkenberg would be one of its two drivers for 2017. The announcement came after Force India agreed to release Hulkenberg from his current contract following the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.Im very happy to join Renault Sport Formula One Team in 2017, Hulkenberg said. Renault has always been a big player in the motorsport world that brings up incredible memories: in his stint with Renault, Michael Schumacher not only helped make Germany an F1 nation, he also sparked my enthusiasm and fire for racing. As a part of the Renault family, I want to develop the car and write new success stories.It has always been my dream to work for a manufacturer team. F1s new regulations will change the game and give our team a good opportunity. In the years to come, Renault will play a challenger role, which fits my approach to racing 100%. I cant wait to become part of the family.For the remaining races this year, I will give my best for Force India to reach fourth place in the constructors championship. This would be a great achievement for the whole Force India team, the biggest success in its history and a great end to aa fantastic time there.dddddddddddd I am grateful that Force India has given me the chance to take up this new opportunity.Renault is in the process of rebuilding its Enstone base after buying the Lotus team over the winter. The French manufacturer has outlined a five-year plan for returning to the top and Renault Sport chairman Jér?me Stoll expects Hulkenberg to play a big part in that.2017 will be the second season of Groupe Renaults return as a manufacturer entry in Formula 1 and the next step in our journey. This season has been about putting the foundations in place for future success. For our next step we required an experienced driver who is still hungry for podiums.Nico Hülkenberg fulfils this role perfectly and is an excellent complement to what we want to achieve. He is a highly talented, dedicated and motivated driver. Nico will enable us to harness all the hard work completed this season and translate it to improved results on track in 2017 and beyond. We look forward to seeing him in our new car for 2017.The identity of Hulkenbergs teammate for 2017 remains unconfirmed, with Manors Esteban Ocon linked to the role as well as current Renault drivers Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer. ' ' '