Roddick likes chances against Federer
Andy Roddick gets another crack at Roger Federer and likes his chances. He’s not dwelling on his 1-14 record against the No. 1 player.
“There’s no reason for me to be nervous,” Roddick said. “I can go out there and let it fly.”
The fifth-ranked Roddick was nearly untouchable Wednesday, beating No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez 6-1, 6-4 to clinch a semifinal spot at the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, China.
Federer is trying to rebound from an opening round-robin loss to Gonzalez, the first time in 4 1/2 years he has dropped back-to-back matches.
Baseball
U.S. takes top seed
In Taipei, Taiwan, Justin Ruggiano hit a tie-breaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning and added a solo home run in the ninth to lead the United States to a 10-7 win over Taiwan and the top seed in the World Cup quarterfinals.
The U.S. team finished 6-1 in group play, and takes on South Korea on Friday in a quarterfinal opener.
Soccer
Seattle excited for MLS
The fans in Seattle are excited about their new Major League Soccer franchise.
The team announced that deposits have been placed on more than 3,000 season tickets since it was announced Tuesday there would be an MLS club in Seattle in 2009.
The team said 2,000 fans have submitted suggestions for the team’s name.
•John Doherty, who played on the Manchester United team that won the 1956 English league title and was known as the “Busby Babes,” has died at 72.
The team announced his death but did not give details.
Miscellany
Serbia downs U.S. team
Serbia handed the Americans their first loss at the volleyball Women’s World Cup in Nagoya, Japan.
Jelena Nikolic scored 23 points to lead the Serbs to a 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23 win to improve to 7-2. The United States is 8-1 with two matches remaining.
•Park Tae-Hwan won the 200- and 1,500-meter freestyle for the only men’s double at a World Cup short-course swimming meet in Stockholm, Sweden.
•Patrick Valenzuela is set to ride again in Southern California for the first time in nearly a year Saturday at Hollywood Park.
The 45-year-old jockey completed the paperwork for a conditional license with the track’s board of stewards. He broke his ribs during a ride last year.
•Central Oklahoma will not bring Chuck Langston back as coach of a football program that recently admitted breaking numerous NCAA rules during his five-year tenure.
•The LPGA Tour released its policy for drug testing that will start next season, making it the first professional golf organization to require randomly selected players to prove they are clean. The policy is similar to the outline released a day earlier by the PGA Tour, which will not start testing its players until July.
•Robert Taylor, a sprinter who won gold and silver medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics, has died. He was 59.
Taylor died Tuesday night in Houston, friends said. The cause of death was not immediately available.