Venus Williams beat younger sister Serena, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (3), yesterday to reach the final of the Dubai Tennis Championship at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The sixth-seeded Venus dominated the first set at the Aviation Club as Serena struggled with her serves.

"I loved the way the first set went," said Venus, who will face Virginie Razzano of France in today's final. "I just had two second serves in the whole of the first set."

Venus now leads the career series between the American sisters 10-9.

Razzano beat 16th-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-1, 6-2. The 58th-ranked Frenchwoman had already upset second-seeded Dinara Safina and fifth-seeded Vera Zvonareva in Dubai.

"I am not surprised at my results here," Razzano said. "I know I have the tennis in me to beat the top-ranked players. And I worked very hard on my game during the winter break and I am feeling good about it."

A-ROD PASSES ON DUBAI AFTER ISRAELI DENIED

Andy Roddick won't defend his title in Dubai next week because he doesn't agree with the decision to deny Israeli Shahar Peer a visa to play in a women's tournament.

"There were a lot of factors why I should probably go, and obviously having played well there doesn't make it any easier," Roddick said after beating fellow American Sam Querrey, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tenn.

"I don't think you make political statements through sports," Roddick said.

In Memphis, he will play Lleyton Hewitt, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Belgian Christophe Rochus.

The Women's Tennis Association fined Dubai Tennis Championships organizers a record $300,000 yesterday after Israeli player Shahar Peer was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates.

The WTA also took steps to compensate Peer and ensure she and other Israeli players won't be shut out of future tournaments in the federation.

Organizers said at the time that they feared fan anger over Israel's recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip would spill into riots if Peer were to play.

AUTO RACING

ENGINE CHANGE DROPS VICKERS FROM POLE

Brian Vickers thought he finally had some good news to override the controversy of the past week.

The 25-year-old Red Bull Racing driver won the pole for tomorrow's Auto Club 500 at Fontana, Calif., barely beating Jimmie Johnson. But, about an hour after taking the sixth pole of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career with a lap of 183.429 mph, Vickers found out his team would have to change the engine in his No. 83 Toyota, sending him to the back of the 43-car field.

He will still be listed as the pole winner, but the youngster will drop out of line when the cars start moving tomorrow and fall to the back, while Johnson, whose fast lap was 183.164, gets to lead the field to the green flag.

The pole would have been big for Vickers, especially in the wake of the Daytona 500 controversy that was sparked when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Vickers collided, setting off a 10-car crash.

"Obviously, the best way to move on from a situation or a controversy is to give them something else to talk about," Vickers said yesterday before learning about the engine change. "And, so far, we've done that this week in a positive way."

FISHING

FORMER CHAMPION LEADS BASSMASTER CLASSIC

Boyd Duckett, the 2007 winner from Demopolis, Ala., had a five-fish limit of 20 pounds, 3 ounces yesterday to take the lead in the Bassmaster Classic, the three-day Super Bowl of bass fishing at Shreveport, La.

Duckett, using a LaserLure crankbait and pitching bait, edged fellow Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jami Fralick of Martin, S.D., by a pound.

Fred Roumbanis of Bixby, Okla., was third at 18-4, followed by Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., at 18-1, and Terry Fitzpatrick of Waukon, Iowa, at 18-0.

Martens had the big bass of the day, a 7-pound, 1-ounce largemouth.

AND WHAT'S MORE ...

Junior left-hander Shaeffer Hall tossed the fifth individual no-hitter in Kansas Jayhawks history, striking out seven in a 5-0 victory over Air Force yesterday in the Service Academy Classic at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn. ... Olympic gold medalist Shaun White won the Winter Dew Cup season title in the snowboard slopestyle event, finishing second behind Norway's Torstein Horgmo yesterday in the Winter Dew Tour Toyota Championship at Truckee, Calif.