PSG look to steal march in title rush

With nearest title rivals Montpellier out of action this weekend, Paris St Germain will look to take advantage in the title race as they take on Nancy, with Mohamed Sissoko saying they "have to win the league".

Guardiola: One goal won't be enough

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola believes his side will have to score at least two goals to see off AC Milan and reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals after the Spanish champions were held to a goalless draw in Italy.

Radwanska beats Bartoli, reaches final

The moon over Miami was the lone source of constant light during tonight's strange semifinal saga. Agnieszka Radwanska pulled the plug on power merchant Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-2, in a wild ride to the Sony Ericsson Open final. This match featured a seven-minute injury time-out, a 17-minute power outage, and a steady stream of service breaks.

Radwanska broke Bartoli in all nine of her service games, winning 40 of the 55 points played on her opponent's serve. The seventh-seeded Bartoli stormed out to a 4-0 lead in snapping world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka's 26-match win streak last night, and picked up where she left off with a slick drop shot-lob combination to convert her fifth break point, capping an 18-point, nine-minute opening game to break.

It took six games and 36 minutes of play for the first hold. Radwanska dropped to her knees, absorbing the pace of a Bartoli blast, then slid a slice pass up the line for game point. When Bartoli scattered a return wide, Radwanska had the rare hold and a 4-3 advantage. Radwanska entered this match with a 6-0 career edge over the former Wimbledon finalist, effectively exploiting the limitations of Bartoli's reach by stretching her with angles. Radwanska is quicker around the court, plays well off power, and can change spins and speeds, denying Bartoli the pace she craves.

Showing her soft hands, Radwanska jerked Bartoli forward forward for a drop shot, then sent her scurrying back to the baseline for a lob, eventually breaking for the fourth straight time for a 5-3 lead. The game took a toll on the Frenchwoman. In between points, Bartoli bent over and clutched her left hip, paced in a stilted shuffle, and cast concerned glances at her father and coach, Dr. Walter Bartoli. Still, she played on, and when Radwanska sprayed a forehand down the line wide, Bartoli broke for 4-5, but wasn't exactly celebrating. She hobbled to the sideline, called for the trainer, and limped off for treatment of a strained left hip at the 53-minute mark.

Returning to the court with her left thigh taped, Bartoli looked to be in pain, but her lateral movement did not appear compromised. Radwanska, who suggested Azarenka exaggerated an ankle injury in her Doha victory over the Pole last month, greeted her opponent's return by breaking at love to seize the 62-minute first setâ€"collecting her 13th straight set against Bartoli.

The second set followed a similar script, with Bartoli appearing on the verge of retiring a few times, only to stand her ground and continue to swing away. Radwanska broke at love for a 4-2 lead then the lights went out, literally, stopping play for 17  minutes. When play resumed, Radwanska ran off eight of the last 12 points, closing a two hour, two-minute soap opera on Bartoli's 35th error of the evening.

The first-time Miami finalist raised her 2012 record to 25-4, with all four losses coming to Azarenka. Radwanska will try to flip the script against second-seeded Maria Sharapova, who has won seven of eight meetings with the clever counter-puncher.

â€"Richard Pagliaro

Djokovic fends off Ferrer in quarters

After a 32-minute first set utterly dominated by Novak Djokovic, one might've expected David Ferrer to cry uncle, or el tio, the Spanish equivalent. But Ferrer, the little engine that could of men's tennis, turned a match that looked like a Djokovic steamroll into an absolute dogfight. The fifth-ranked Spaniard broke Djokovic twice in the second set, once when he was serving for the match, and if not for two crucial Ferrer mistakes in the tiebreaker, he might've pushed Djokovic to a third. Instead, the world No. 1 cruised through the breaker, 7-1, to capture the second set and the match, 6-2, 7-6 (1).

Djokovic is now 18-2 on the season, and he struck the ball as well tonight as he did when he took down another Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, in the Australian Open final. Twice in the opening three games, Djokovic made Spiderman-like gets off Ferrer drop volleys and came up with backhand and lob winners. The Serb won six of his seven forays to the net and dropped only three points on serve in the first set.

But Ferrer, like Nadal, is not one discouraged easily. At 5-foot-9, he was giving up a half-foot to the 6-foot-3 Djokovic, but after being broken for the third time in the match by Djokovic to open the second set, Ferrer started to cut Djokovic's legs out from under him. After a 33-shot rally in Djokovic's opening service game, the Serb reached for his left ankle in pain and exhaustion. It would not be the only time after a brutal, east-to-west rally that Djokovic would grimace. After Ferrer broke Djokovic, he backed up the break with four great serves to go up 2-1, the feisty Spaniard's first lead in the match.

Djokovic saved another break point on his next service game to even the score at 2-2, but his cheeks started to look more hollow than usual. Ferrer won the next game at love on his serve, and then at love-30, he had Djokovic walking like a defeated man. Ferrer's grunt sounds like a dagger, and it appeared to be sticking out of the Serb's heart. The defending champion's body language looked like he was ready to cave in under Ferrer's unrelenting baseline barrage, but instead Djokovic won four straight points to even the set score at 3-all. Two games later, Djokovic redirected a Ferrer serve to the ad court down the line for a winner and then promptly broke serve.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Djokovic looked like he had weathered the storm. But just like Nadal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last night, Djokovic was broken when leading 6-2, 5-4. Ferrer, after another long, grueling rally, chased down a Djokovic drop volley and then smashed an overhead winner for the break. He seemingly had all the momentum, and in going up 6-5 with a hold, the Spaniard reduced Djokovic to stumbling, heaving and reaching for his left ankle again. The skid marks on the court from Djokovic looked like lines in the sand that Ferrer was crossing out.

But Ferrer still needed to win a tiebreaker to extend the match. Djokovic took advantage of his opponent's indecision to go up 3-0, and at 1-4, Ferrer made his second crucial mistake, challenging a shot on the baseline that was called in. Hawk-Eye showed the ball catching the line, and finally, the air seemed to seep out of the Spaniard. Djokovic closed Ferrer out, with the second set taking nearly three times as long as the first set; 81-minutes of brutal, wind-sucking, dynamic ball-striking.
 
Next up for Djokovic is another night match, a semifinal against Juan Monaco, who surprisingly decimated Mardy Fish earlier today, 6-3, 6-1. In pro-Argentine Miami, Monaco has a puncher's chance against Djokovic, even though the No. 21 seed is 0-4 against the top seed.
 
â€"Dan Markowitz

Sharapova tops Wozniacki to reach Miami final

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)â€"Maria Sharapova was confused and Caroline Wozniacki was mad. The linesman was wrong and the chair umpire was right.
 
Sharapova won the disputed final point after an overrule by the umpire, edging Wozniacki 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Thursday in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open.
 
“Obviously you don’t want it to end that way,” said Sharapova, who will meet Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday’s final.

At 40-30 in the last game, Sharapova hit a second serve that the linesman called long, which would have been a double-fault, but umpire Kader Nouni immediately reversed the ruling and ordered the point replayed. The call couldn’t be reviewed because Wozniacki had no challenges left, although TV replays showed Nouni was correct to overrule.
 
Sharapova was awarded two serves and took advantage with a big first serve to set up an overhead slam for the victory.
 
Wozniacki, angry about the overrule, declined to shake Nouni’s hand and had words with him as she walked to the exit.
 
“It was a pretty crucial point,” she said. “When the ball is so close, I think he should give her a chance to challenge, at least when I don’t have any challenges.”
 
Sharapova said she didn’t realize Wozniacki had no challenges left, and added she would have challenged the call herself had it not been overruled.
 
“It’s obviously a tough situation to be in,” Sharapova said, “because it’s so close to the end of the match, and both of us had fought so hard for over two hours.”
 
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic advanced to the men’s semifinals without argument, beating No. 5 David Ferrer 6-2, 7-6 (1). Djokovic lost a remarkable 40-shot rally that had spectators gasping as it progressed, but he played a nearly flawless tiebreaker to seal the victory.
 
“Coming into this tournament, I was confident,” Djokovic said. “And I feel that I am playing better and better as the tournament goes on.”
 
Djokovic seeks his third Key Biscayne title and second in a row. His opponent Friday night will be No. 21 Juan Monaco, who advanced on his 28th birthday by eliminating the last American in either singles draw, No. 8 Mardy Fish. The scrappy Monaco dominated from the baseline and hit only eight second serves during the 6-1, 6-3 victory.
 
“This is the way to celebrate my birthday, playing like this,” Monaco said. “I feel proud and very happy.”
 
No. 2 Rafael Nadal, seeking his first Key Biscayne title, plays 2009 champion Andy Murray in the other semifinal.
 
Radwanska’s progress toward her first Key Biscayne final was interrupted briefly in the second set by a power outage that caused a delay of 20 minutes. She then closed out a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Marion Bartoli, who hurt her left thigh in the early going and limped through the rest of the match.
 
The No. 5-seeded Radwanska is 0-4 this year against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and 25-0 against everyone else.
 
Sharapova, seeded second, improved to 4-0 in Key Biscayne semifinals. She’s 0-3 in finals at the event, losing every set.
 
“I’m happy that I gave myself another chance to go out there and try to change that,” said Sharapova, who attended the tournament several times as a fan when she was a youngster training in Florida.
 
Sharapova will play in her second successive final and third this year. She was runner-up at the Australian Open in January and at Indian Wells two weeks ago.
 
Wozniacki, a former No. 1 now ranked sixth, fell to 1-7 lifetime against opponents ranked in the top two.
 
Sharapova was in an attacking mode against the Dane, a relentless retriever whose defense helped her beat Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
 
Sharapova went for winners at every opportunity and hit 55, but she also committed 46 unforced errors. Wozniacki totaled only 13 winners and 25 errors.
 
“Being aggressive is really the key,” Sharapova said. “If you let her play many, many balls, she’s such a great mover around the court and she can be out here for many hours, and that’s not really my game.”
 
Sharapova was a point away from a 5-1 lead in the opening set but then began overhitting her forehand, which allowed Wozniacki to sweep five consecutive games and take the set.
 
Shrieking with each shot, Sharapova regained her accuracy thereafter. By the time she led 4-love in the second set, she had a 27-4 advantage in winners.
 
She went ahead 5-2 in the final set before Wozniacki staged one last rally, which fell short amid the fuss at the finish.
 
“Maria started off really well and played aggressively,” Wozniacki said. “She played some good tennis out there. I tried to do my best, and it just wasn’t enough.”
 
Sharapova improved to 17-1 in three-set matches since the beginning of 2011.

Yellow Canaries flying high

FIFA.com takes a look at Fenerbahce, one of a trio of Istanbul elite, whose success in recent years has seen the Canaries build on their working class origins to finally become the most successful club in Turkey.

Red Bull take 3 or 4 steps back

The Malaysian Grand Prix didn’t go as well as Red Bull Racing would have liked and yet Mark Webber managed to score points and now leads his dual-champion teammate Sebastian Vettel by six points. The coverage of the race here in the United States of America was interesting in that the keen eye of Steve Matchett and

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Novak Moves Closer to Back-To-Back Titles

Novak Djokovic defeats David Ferrer 62 76(1) in the Sony Ericsson Open quarter-finals.

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Sharapova tops Wozniacki; Djokovic into semis

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)â€"Maria Sharapova was confused and Caroline Wozniacki was mad. The linesman was wrong and the chair umpire was right.
 
Sharapova won the disputed final point after an overrule by the umpire, edging Wozniacki 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Thursday in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open.
 
“Obviously you don’t want it to end that way,” Sharapova said.
 
At 40-30 in the last game, Sharapova hit a second serve that the linesman called long, which would have been a double-fault, but umpire Kader Nouni immediately reversed the ruling and ordered the point replayed. The call couldn’t be reviewed because Wozniacki had no challenges left, although TV replays showed Nouni was correct to overrule.

Sharapova was awarded two serves and took advantage with a big first serve to set up an overhead slam for the victory.
 
Wozniacki, angry about the overrule, declined to shake Nouni’s hand and had words with him as she walked to the exit.
 
“It was a pretty crucial point,” she said. “When the ball is so close, I think he should give her a chance to challenge, at least when I don’t have any challenges.”
 
Sharapova said she didn’t realize Wozniacki had no challenges left, and added she would have challenged the call herself had it not been overruled.
 
“It’s obviously a tough situation to be in,” Sharapova said, “because it’s so close to the end of the match, and both of us had fought so hard for over two hours.”
 
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals without argument, beating No. 5 David Ferrer 6-2, 7-6 (1). Djokovic lost a remarkable 40-shot rally that had spectators gasping as it progressed, but he played a nearly flawless tiebreaker to seal the victory.
 
Djokovic seeks his third Key Biscayne title and second in a row. His opponent Friday night will be No. 21 Juan Monaco, who advanced on his 28th birthday by eliminating the last American in either singles draw, No. 8 Mardy Fish. The scrappy Monaco dominated from the baseline and hit only eight second serves during the 6-1, 6-3 victory.
 
“This is the way to celebrate my birthday, playing like this,” Monaco said. “I feel proud and very happy.”
 
With the departure of defending champion Victoria Azarenka, the tournament is guaranteed a first-time women’s winner. Sharapova’s opponent Saturday will be the winner of Thursday night’s match between No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 7 Marion Bartoli, who handed the top-ranked Azarenka her first loss of the year Wednesday.
 
The No. 2-seeded Sharapova improved to 4-0 in Key Biscayne semifinals. She’s 0-3 in finals at the event, losing every set.
 
“I’m happy that I gave myself another chance to go out there and try to change that,” said Sharapova, who attended the tournament several times as a fan when she was a youngster training in Florida.
 
Sharapova will play in her second successive final and third this year. She was runner-up at the Australian Open in January and at Indian Wells two weeks ago.
 
Wozniacki, a former No. 1 now ranked sixth, fell to 1-7 lifetime against opponents ranked in the top two.
 
Sharapova was in an attacking mode against the Dane, a relentless retriever whose defense helped her beat Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
 
Sharapova went for winners at every opportunity and hit 55, but she also committed 46 unforced errors. Wozniacki totaled only 13 winners and 25 errors.
 
“Being aggressive is really the key,” Sharapova said. “If you let her play many, many balls, she’s such a great mover around the court and she can be out here for many hours, and that’s not really my game.”
 
Sharapova was a point away from a 5-1 lead in the opening set but then began overhitting her forehand, which allowed Wozniacki to sweep five consecutive games and take the set.
 
Shrieking with each shot, Sharapova regained her accuracy thereafter. By the time she led 4-love in the second set, she had a 27-4 advantage in winners.
 
She went ahead 5-2 in the final set before Wozniacki staged one last rally, which fell short amid the fuss at the finish.
 
“Maria started off really well and played aggressively,” Wozniacki said. “She played some good tennis out there. I tried to do my best, and it just wasn’t enough.”
 
Sharapova improved to 17-1 in three-set matches since the beginning of 2011.

Blatter meets Marin and Del Nero in Zurich

While in Zurich for a meeting of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup™, FIFA Executive Committee member Marco Polo del Nero and Brazil 2014 LOC Chairman Jose Maria Marin took the chance to meet with Joseph S. Blatter.

Van Bommel mulls PSV return

Mark van Bommel has revealed that he could return to former club PSV Eindhoven when his contract with AC Milan expires at the end of the season, although a move would depend on who is named the Dutch side's new coach.

Fernandes targets mid-pack battles for Caterham

Caterham boss Tony Fernandes hopes his team can break through into the midpack — and finish better than 10th — this season, he tells the official Formula 1 site in an exclusive Q&A. What might be the most noteworthy thing from the piece, however, is it brings up FOTA: Q: Caterham is still a member

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Birthday Boy Monaco Upsets Fish

Juan Monaco celebrated his 28th birthday in style Thursday, cruising into the Sony Ericsson Open semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Mardy Fish.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Fish beaten handily by Monaco in QFs

The yellow ball plopped on the purple court like a splotch of paint on canvas. Streaking forward with the urgency of a man racing after a runaway rental car with his racquets trapped in the trunk, Juan Monaco ran down Mardy Fish's drop shot and knifed a controlled reply up the line. A startled Fish knocked a forehand into net. That sequence typified today's Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinalâ€"on a day in which Monaco ran down almost everything, nothing was working for Fish.

Monaco celebrated his 28th birthday with a cakewalk win, reeling off eight of the first nine games to dismiss a sluggish Fish, 6-1, 6-3, and roar into his second career Masters semifinal.

Argentine flags were flying and Monaco was soaring as that eye-popping get sparked his second break and a 5-1 first-set lead. Fish, who spent much of this match fighting himself, committed three return errors in the ensuing game as Monaco served out the 32-minute set at love. The world No. 21 served almost flawlessly in the opener, missing just one first serve. Fish, who surrendered serve just three times through three tournament matches, was flat and endured the tennis equivalent of a horror show in committing 13 unforced errors in the first set, including several off his typically reliable two-handed backhand, while Monaco converted five of nine break-point chances.

A fast-footed grinder who changes direction quickly, Monaco doesn't own one overwhelming weapon, but he's skilled at constructing points. He doesn't possess the pure power of countryman Juan Martin del Potro, the flashy shotmaking skill of David Nalbandian, or the physicality of former Miami finalist Guillermo Canas, but Monaco is a tenacious competitor who relishes long rallies and can run all day long. Playing with passion from the first point, he consistently beat the American to the ball, and when Monaco looped a leaping lob into the corner, he had another break for a 1-0 second-set lead.

The eighth-ranked Fish grew up in Vero Beach, Fla. and declared his disappointment in being relegated to the outer courts in both Indian Wells and Miami. But Fish didn't bring his A game to the big stage today. The court seemed as small as a sandbox and the net as tall as the back wall, as Fish repeatedly slapped shots into net. "This is the worst I've seen Mardy playâ€"ever," ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe, Fish's former Davis Cup captain, remarked three games into the second set.

The 2011 semifinalist made a short stand when he broke for 3-3. It was a brief reprieve as Monaco lofted a lob that ticked off the top of Fish's Wilson frame to break right back. Monaco won eight of the last nine points, sealing the march with a stunning half-volley winner. He tossed his racquet aside and punched the air emphatically in dismantling his third straight seeded opponent. Monaco will meet either Novak Djokovic or David Ferrer for a place in the final.

"It's unbelievable to celebrate this way," an ecstatic Monaco told ESPN's Brad Gilbert. "Every shot I want to play, I did. It was a perfect match for me."

â€"Richard Pagliaro

Mirnyi/Nestor Into Final

Second seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor advanced to their third final of the season following a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna at the Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Boquete: Marta is my role model

Veronica Boquete chats to FIFA.com about the collapse of the WPS, playing alongside Marta for Tyreso, Spain’s underachievement and desire to qualify for the next UEFA Women’s EURO, and the development of women's football.

Utrecht boss wants support, Ajax face Hercules

Jan Wouters has called for the fans of FC Utrecht to get behind the side against Excelsior to help keep them clear of a relegation dog fight, while Ajax will look to continue their chase of AZ Alkmaar when the face Hercules.

Honorary OBE for Eddie Jordan

Ex-Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan has been awarded an honorary OBE (Order of the British Empire) in recognition of his services to charity and motor racing. Irishman Jordan, 64, founded the team that bore his name (now Force India) in 1990. It went on to compete in 250 Grands Prix, winning four

Sharapova survives Wozniacki in Miami semis

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)â€"Maria Sharapova benefited from a chair umpire's disputed overrule on the final point Thursday and edged Caroline Wozniacki 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open.

At 40-30 in the final game, Sharapova hit a second serve that the linesman called long, which would have been a double-fault, but the umpire immediately reversed the ruling and ordered the point replayed. The call couldn't be reviewed because Wozniacki had no challenges left, although TV replays showed the umpire was correct to overrule.

Sharapova was awarded two serves and took advantage with a big first serve to set up an overhead winner for the victory.

An angry Wozniacki declined to shake the umpire's hand and had words with him as she walked to the exit.

Ferrari: The F2012's problems are far from over

Fernando Alonso may have left Malaysia victorious and leading the drivers' championship, but Ferrari aren't about to start resting on their laurels just yet. Although pleased with the Sepang win, team principal Stefano Domenicali is under no illusions about the F2012's shortfall to its rivals and is determined the hard work at Maranello continues apace.

Statement regarding Formula One finances

Formula One Group has launched a process to extend its current financing facilities. This will involve raising $2.27bn of new facilities with maturities in 2017/18, replacing the company's existing $2.92bn facilities which are due to mature in 2013/14. The new facilities will provide the business with a secure, long term capital structure. Proceeds raised will be kept within the Group for general corporate purposes and the company has no current plans to pay a dividend.

Tsonga to lead France in Davis Cup v. USA

PARIS (AP)â€"Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will lead France in next week’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against the United States.

The sixth-ranked Tsonga was nominated on Tuesday by France captain Guy Forget, along with No. 14 Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra.

The quarterfinal will be played on clay at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Monaco from April 6-8.

Azarenka could take five weeks to rest

After seeing her 26-match winning streak come to an end with a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Marion Bartoli last night at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Victoria Azarenka said she will take an extensive break, possibly until the second week of May, in Madrid. Azarenka is entered in Stuttgart, which begins April 23, along with the rest of the Top 10, but it’s unclear whether she will participate.

"I'm going to rest. I don't know," she told reporters. "Probably my next tournament is gonna be Madrid or something like that. I'll have a good preparation for my clay season, and we'll see the next tournament."

Tsonga alleges chair umpire favored Nadal

In the aftermath of his 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 loss to Rafael Nadal in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals last night, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga alleged that that chair umpire  Damian Steiner was giving preferential treatment to the world No. 2.

"I was complaining because all the match; I’ve got to," Tsonga told reporters. "I have to challenge, and I was right many, many times. He never take initiative when it's against Rafa. It's all the time like this. So I have to be really focused on the ball, because if the ball is out,  if it's really close, he would never say out against Rafa.  Always to say against me. If Rafa don't like him anymore, I mean, he would not be in the chair many times on final and semifinal.  So sometimes it's not fair.  Because I have to take decision, all the time. And he never take decision. He just say the score. That's why sometimes I'm upset about it."

Tsonga added that he felt it’s like double work on the court because he had to watch the ball, the lines and also play the shots.  The world No. 6 also complained that he was not scheduled on center court until his match against Nadal. 

"It come in your head and you focus on it and you don't have to," Tsonga said. "Then, I lose my concentration, sometimes because of that. He played like three times on the court. I didn't play on the court. I mean, it's like this."

Tsonga, Nadal and some other players have argued that since the advent of Hawk-Eye, too many chair umpires have become too passive.

"I understand sometimes the frustration on this situations," Nadal said. "Because that is true that the referees with the Hawk-Eye are doing less overrules than before.  I said hundreds of times, too. But is not because he's playing against me.  Happen to me a lot of times, no? Easy to remember.  In Australia, you remember against [Tomas] Berdych the very important points 6-all in the tiebreak of the first set?  So he didn't make overrule, too, and ball was clear out. So I called the challenge late and the point was for Berdych. So is not a thing with me. Is a general thing with the referees today that with the Hawk-Eye. I believe that they feel that they have less pressure than before. So probably knowing that you have the challenge, they don't take the risk to have to overrule Tsonga is right in one thing; he's wrong in another thing."

Venus: 'I don't have a condition problem'

In her first tournament since the 2011 U.S. Open, Venus Williams reached the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals before falling to Agnieszka Radwanska. Even though she is suffering from the auto-immune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome, Venus said the reason why she looked tired against the Pole was not because of the disease, but because she stayed up too late recovering from her late-night win over Ana Ivanovic on Monday night. 

"I was up until like 4 a.m. recovering from the match and all the things that you have to do after," said Williams. "So the next day I think I should have rested more. After a while you start to feel like maybe everything's behind you. I definitely learned maybe if you're doing something right, don't change it."

The 31-year-old Williams, who is scheduled to play Charleston next week, said that she is in shape. "I don't have a condition problem," Williams said. "Let's definitely get that straight. I'm always fit."

Federer tired after long start to season

After losing just his third singles match of the season to Andy Roddick in Miami last night, Roger Federer says he’s feeling tired. "(I've played) maybe 30 matches for the season. Just feeling like it's taken its toll a bit, which is normal," Federer said. 
"But I've played more tired in the past, so this was not the most tired I have ever been, but you just start to feel it a bit. I didn't just get the lucky break today that I got in Indian Wells."

Serena: I don't get enough credit for being nice

Serena Williams explained why she apologized to Samantha Stosur after she lost a Hawk-Eye challenge at Miami’s Sony Ericsson Open. Williams won the match in straight sets. In the 2011 U.S. Open final, which she lost to Stosur, Serena got into a confrontation with chair umpire Eva Asdaraki.

"I always do kinda out of habit," Serena told reporters about the Hawk-Eye apology. "I don't mean to. I don't get enough credit for being a super nice person and clapping on good points. They only focus on me yelling at umpires. I'm actually an unbelievable professional competitor out there."

Clijsters to miss four weeks with hip injury

BRUSSELS (AP)â€"Kim Clijsters has a torn hip muscle and will need four weeks off the tour.

A statement from her management company on Wednesday said she’d been troubled with hip pains during the Sony Ericsson Open over the weekend in Key Biscayne, Fla. She lost to Belgian compatriot Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets.

Tests show “a small torn muscle” in her right hip, the statement said. She hopes to be back for the Madrid Open, which starts May 5.

Clijsters has said she plans to retire after the summer, highlighting her year with an appearance at the London Olympics.

Serena on loss: I played at about 20 percent

Serena Williams criticizes herself after losing to former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the first time she has fallen to the Dane in four tries.

"The good thing is I could've played a lot better," Serena told reporters. "I probably played about 20 percent. You know, it would really suck and if I had to sit here and say I couldn't do any better. That's not the case. I just made a tremendous amount of errors. There's no reason for that. I'm older and I shouldn't do that. There's no excuse. I just gotta stop that. It's silly."

Tsonga: Ump gave Nadal preferential treatment

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP)â€"Jo-Wilfried Tsonga accused the chair umpire of giving Rafael Nadal preferential treatment during their quarterfinal at the Sony Ericsson Open. Nadal said that’s not the case.

Nadal, bidding for his first Key Biscayne title, won 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in a match that ended shortly after midnight Friday. Tsonga complained during the match and afterward that when borderline calls went against him, umpire Damian Steiner was reluctant to overrule.

“It’s not fair,” Tsonga said. “If it’s really close, he would never say ‘out’ against Rafa. If Rafa doesn’t like him anymore, he would not be in the chair many times in a final and semifinal.”

Tsonga said he lost his concentration because he became so focused on watching the lines in case he needed to challenge a ruling. Many players contend that since the advent of the Hawk-Eye replay review system, which allows players to challenge, umpires are less inclined to overrule linesmen.

“I understand sometimes the frustration on this situation,” Nadal said. “It’s a general thing with the referees today that with the Hawk-Eye, I believe that they feel that they have less pressure than before. Probably knowing that you have the challenge, they don’t take the risk to have to overrule.

“He’s right in one thing; he’s wrong in another thing.”

Azarenka suffers first loss of season

KEY BISCAYNE, Florida (AP)â€"Victoria Azarenka’s 26-match unbeaten streak across the first three months of the year was ended Wednesday by Marion Bartoli, who beat the world No. 1 in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Azarenka’s streak, which included her Australian Open title, was the best on the women’s tour since Martina Hingis went 37-0 to begin 1997.

Bartoli’s semifinal opponent on Thursday will be Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat a tired Venus Williams 6-4, 6-1.

In the men’s quarterfinals, 2009 champion Andy Murray overcame an upset stomach and early deficit to beat No. 9-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Azarenka’d unreliable serve and atypical mistakes from the baseline doomed her against Bartoli.

“I’m a human, not a superwoman, and I wish I could be, but I’m not,” Azarenka said with a smile. “I feel disappointed, sure. Who wouldn’t be after the loss? But what I’ve done in the last couple of months, I have to be really proud of myself.”

The steady Bartoli took charge of rallies by playing inside the baseline.

“Sometimes I took the ball extremely early,” she said. “It was almost table tennis.”

Seeded No. 7, Bartoli advanced to the Key Biscayne semifinals for the second time in three years.

The other semifinal will be between Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova, a three-time Key Biscayne runner-up.

Williams was weary after winning three consecutive three-set matches in her comeback tournament. It was her first tournament since the U.S. Open last August, where she withdrew after being diagnosed with a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease.

“It was disappointing not to be able to feel my best today,” Williams said. “I was able to keep it close in the first set and try different strategies, but it was definitely a mental battle, and today I didn’t conquer the mental part of it.”

“It has been a great tournament,” she said. “I’m disappointed and would have liked to have gone further, but it’s a great start.”

Eager to keep points short in the heat, Williams charged the net often but frequently had to lunge for shots. She committed 38 unforced errors to 10 for Radwanska, and won only five of 26 points on her second serve.

Radwanska, ranked a career-best No. 4, is 0-4 this year against Azarenka and 24-0 against everyone else.

Murray lost six straight games after leading the first set 4-2, but fought back to clinch a semifinal berth against the winner of Wednesday’s late match between Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“Today’s match was really important for me to get through after how it was going, (fighting) back after being a break down a few times in the second set,” Murray said.

Venus weary in quarterfinal defeat

KEY BISCAYNE, Florida (AP)â€"Venus Williams looked weary Wednesday after winning three consecutive three-set matches as she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open, 6-4, 6-1.

Williams’ serve lacked its usual speed, and by the final game she wasn’t even chasing after shots in the corner.

The tournament was Williams’ first since the U.S. Open last August, where she withdrew after being diagnosed with a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease.

“It was disappointing not to be able to feel my best today,” Williams said. “I was able to keep it close in the first set and try different strategies, but it was definitely a mental battle, and today I didn’t conquer the mental part of it.”

Eager to keep points short in the 85-degree sunshine, Williams charged the net often but was frequently had to lunge for shots. She committed 38 unforced errors to 10 for Radwanska, and won only five of 26 points on her second serve.

“It was pretty hot out there,” Radwanska said. “Maybe that was why she didn’t look that good.”

She was the second Williams in 18 hours to be eliminated. Younger sister Serena lost Tuesday night to former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.

In the men’s quarterfinals, 2009 champion Andy Murray overcame an upset stomach and early deficit to beat No. 9-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Venus Williams is ranked No. 134 and needed a wild card to enter the tournament. The three-time Olympian’s goal is to improve her ranking enough to qualify for the London Games, and she’s projected to climb next week back into the top 90.

In the past, the cutoff for making the Olympics has been around 68th. It will be based on rankings in early June. Radwanska, ranked a career-best No. 4, advanced to the Key Biscayne semifinals for the first time. She’s 0-4 this year against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and 24-0 against everyone else.

She beat Williams in 2006 but had since lost five consecutive meetings.

“Of course she had some time off last couple of months,” Radwanska said. “But she’s still a great player. I really had to play very well today to beat her.”

Williams overcame a match point in the third round against Aleksandra Wozniak on Sunday night, and said she was up until 4 a.m. afterward. She recovered to beat No. 15-seeded Ana Ivanovic on Monday.

Williams said her ailment requires her to save all her energy for tennis, but she strayed from that approach with a day off Tuesday.

“I should have rested more probably,” Williams said. “After a while you start to feel like maybe everything’s behind you. I definitely learned maybe if you’re doing something right, don’t change it.”

Her energy reserve appeared low from the start of the quarterfinal, and she lost the first seven points. Radwanska took advantage of Williams’ lethargy by hitting several drop shots for winners and pouncing on weak second serves.

When Williams had a chance at an easy overhead, she walked up to the ball flat-footed. Facing break point early in the second set, she mustered only a 72-mph first serve, well below her norm of 110 or more.

Williams lost the final six points, dumped her last shot into the net and began looking ahead to the clay-court season. She plans to play next week at Charleston, South Carolina.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot about ways maybe I could prepare during the tournament,” she said.

Quick bites: Lewis does good, French GP closer to reality, fans against Bahrain GP

Just a “short stack” of items for us to discuss today, and, yes, up front, I saw these at the BBC. But I still think they are worth our discussion. The first is a good news story on Lewis Hamilton. Following the Malaysian Grand Prix, he spent two days in Manila (the capital of the

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Djokovic to miss Davis Cup vs. Czechs

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)â€"Novak Djokovic will skip Serbia’s Davis Cup quarterfinal match against the Czech Republic next month.

Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team will include 9th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki as he decided to let the top-ranked Djokovic rest.

Djokovic also missed the 4-1 first-round Davis Cup victory against Sweden. He last played for Serbia in September’s semifinal loss against Argentina when a muscle injury forced him to retire against Juan Martin del Potro.

In their last Davis Cup meeting, Serbia beat the Czechs 3-2 in 2010 and went on to win the country’s first Davis Cup title.

Melzer to lead Austria against Spain

VIENNA (AP)â€"Austria will travel to next week’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against defending champion Spain with the same team that beat Russia 3-2 in the first round.

The 22nd-ranked Jurgen Melzer along with Andreas Haider-Maurer, Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya were nominated on Tuesday by captain Clemens Trimmel, who added Martin Fischer and Julian Knowle as hitting partners.

“We are the absolute underdogs,” Trimmel said. “Any other result than a Spanish win would mean a major sensation. Every single point we might win there would be a great success for Austrian tennis.”

In its first quarterfinal since 1995, Austria plays Spain in Oropesa del Mar from April 6-8.

Cibulkova sad about inability to close

After relinquishing a 6-1, 5-2 lead against world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in a 1-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 defeat at the Sony Ericsson Open last night, Dominika Cibulkova cannot understand why she can't close out close matches. The Slovakian has suffered six long, three-set losses this year. "I just didn't finish the match. Until then, I was killing her from the return and just from the forehand," she told reporters. "After that, I just didn't want to go for so much. I just wanted her to beat herself. The biggest mistake was that I just let her play, and I didn't finish it. It's tough, because in last two months I have played a lot of matches like this that I just didn't finish. It's just frustrating right now and pretty sad."

Fish, Isner, Bryans chosen for Davis Cup team

Mardy Fish and John Isner have been chosen to play for the U.S. Davis Cup team in the quarterfinals against France on April 6-8.

The team announced Tuesday will also include top-ranked doubles partners Bob and Mike Bryan. The tie will be played on red clay at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France.

The French team includes Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra.

Fish and Isner swept the opening-day singles matches to help the U.S. team win at Switzerland in the first round in February. Isner beat Roger Federer and called the victory the biggest of his career.

The U.S.-France winner will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Spain and Austria.

Berdych, Stepanek to face Serbia in Davis Cup

PRAGUE (AP)â€"The Czech Republic will use the same team that beat Italy in the Davis Cup when it faces Serbia in next month’s quarterfinal.

Seventh-ranked Tomas Berdych will lead the team again along with his traditional partner Radek Stepanek, ranked 25th.

Berdych has struggled recently, losing to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday.

Lukas Rosol and doubles specialist Frantisek Cermak were also in the Czech squad announced Tuesday for the April 6-8 series on indoor clay at Prague’s O2 Arena.

In their last Davis Cup meeting, Serbia beat the Czechs 3-2 in 2010 and went on to win the country’s first Davis Cup title with the help of Novak Djokovic.

The Czechs won their only Davis Cup title as Czechoslovakia in 1980.

Miami Wednesday Briefing - Bottom Half QFs Feature Four Top 10 Stars

Media notes for the Sony Ericsson Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

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Nadal Tops Tsonga To Set Murray Clash

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal set up a semi-final showdown with fourth-ranked Andy Murray at the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday evening, topping sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 50 minutes.

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Murray Rallies To Reach Semifinals

World No. 4 Andy Murray advanced to his third Sony Ericsson Open semi-final on Wednesday, rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic.

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Nadal Remains On Course; Fish Into QFs

Second seed Rafael Nadal, who is attempting to capture his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy, defeated No. 16 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday at the Sony Ericsson Open.

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