2010 U.S. Open TV Schedule, Women’s Semifinals: Venus Williams' Final Hurdle

The women's semifinals are on tap at the 2010 U.S. Open. Caroline Wozniacki will play Vera Zvonareva in the first match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday afternoon. Next, Venus Williams will take on Kim Clijsters. The winners will face off Saturday night in the final.

Tune in to CBS from 12:30-6 p.m. for live coverage.

After a windy Day 11, here are a few matches worth checking out on Day 12:

Not before 1:30 p.m., Arthur Ashe

No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. No. 7 Vera Zvonareva (RUS)

Meet Grandpa the spider monkey. Like Paul the Octopus, he's good at picking winners. The Wall Street Journal's Nando Di Fino discovered him at Staten Island Zoo's new sports book.

Similar to how Paul picked his games-he would choose from two boxes containing mussels, each marked with the competition's flags-Grandpa picks from two tennis balls in his exhibit every morning, each one labeled with a player competing that day. Whichever ball Grandpa grabs first is his call for the winner.

But Grandpa the Greek, who's 34 by the way, was wrong about Zvonareva. After starting his career 4-0, he picked against her this week.

Today, he's trying to extend his streak by, uh, predicting an upset: 31st-seeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi over No. 7 Vera Zvonareva in the women's quarterfinals. Check back here for coverage of their afternoon match and the rest of the Open.

UPDATE: Zvonareva won her match in straight sets, marring Grandpa's perfect record. Bad monkey!

The lesson here is to never listen to a spider monkey, unless is name is Mojo.

Anyway, Zvonareva, a Wimbledon finalist, has a 2-2 record against Wozniacki. When they played in Montreal this summer, Wozniacki won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. I'm eagerly awaiting Grandpa's prediction.

Not before 3:30 p.m., Arthur Ashe

No. 3 Venus Williams (USA) vs. No. 2 Kim Clijsters (BEL)

Venus, who won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2000 and 2001, isn't as accomplished a player as her younger sister Serena. But Venus, as this week's SI.com piece by S.L. Price proves, is a hell of a lot more interesting.

"Just because of my history, too, as the African-American," Williams said Sunday, recalling why she decided, last year, to publicly chastise the United Arab Emirates -- during the trophy ceremony in Dubai -- for barring Israeli player Shahar Peer from their tournament. "My parents both came from the South in the '40s and '50s and just -- you know, it was an outrage, really. Just like: Are you serious? Can you really exclude someone? This is professional tennis in 2010. We're all athletes here. We're not politicians or anything like that. So really, the feeling inside of me was just one of almost rage and discontent. Like: Is this for real?"

She was speaking about February 2009, when the UAE denied Peer a visa to play in its women's tournament, and defending men's champ Andy Roddick earned plaudits for pulling out of the men's draw in protest. Williams, in contrast, decided to play and took heat for that and won, but at the moment of truth -- before Arab royalty and plenty of others who agreed with Peer's absence -- she took the microphone during the trophy presentation and essentially called out the tournament and nation, called it, "a shame that one of our players couldn't be here."

The press hammers athletes for not being socially conscious enough. Venus, at the very least, has guts. But will that be enough against Clijsters Friday? I'm not sure. But here's some background:

Williams and Clijsters have split 12 career meetings. Clijsters beat Williams, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4, in the fourth round of the 2009 U.S. Open. The last time they played, in Miami this spring, Clijsters made quick work of Williams, 6-2, 6-1. (Clijsters has actually prevailed in their last four matches.)

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