Williams rallies to advance to semifinals

Tennis: Serena Williams rallied for a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Friday, reaching the tournament semifinals as she continues her comeback from injury and illness.

The unseeded Williams next will play fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who made quick work of No. 135 Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Samantha Stosur also reached the semifinals, defeating No. 22 Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-1.

Stosur will take on Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 11 Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 6-3.

• Djokovic rolls on to semis: Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1-ranked player from Serbia, needed just 1 hour, 13 minutes to beat fifth-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Master Series tournament in Montreal.

The 2007 Rogers Cup champion will face another Frenchman, 13th seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who ousted No. 8 seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-4, 6-4.

American Mardy Fish also advanced, surviving an error-filled second set to defeat 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-0. Fish will face unseeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who ousted seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4.

Defending champ Kang advances

Golf: Defending champion Danielle Kang beat Demi Frances Runas 4 and 3 in Barrington, R.I., to advance to the semifinals in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rhode Island Country Club.

The 18-year-old Kang, a Pepperdine player from Westlake Village, Calif., will face Alabama’s Brooke Pancake today. Pancake, from Chattanooga, Tenn., beat Erynne Lee of Silverdale, Wash., in 21 holes.

The other semifinal matchup will pit LSU’s Austin Ernst, the NCAA champion from Seneca, S.C., against Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn.

Women’s basketball: Former Texas Southern women’s basketball coach Surina Dixon has won a federal lawsuit against the school in which she alleged gender discrimination and retaliation for her 2008 firing.

A jury in Houston awarded Dixon $730,000.

Dixon was hired by TSU in March 2008 and fired three months later without coaching a game. Her lawsuit alleged she was retaliated against after she complained about gender discrimination and advocated for gender equity.

Florida St. president addresses rumors

College Football: Florida State University President Eric Barron said he’s heard the rumors that the Seminoles are moving from the ACC to the Southeastern Conference and said that’s all they are at the moment.

But Barron also didn’t say never, referring to the reports as “quite fascinating.”

“I don’t think there is anything to talk about right now,” Barron said. “I don’t speculate when there’s no conversation.”

• Texas A&M regents call meeting: The Texas A&M System board of regents has called a special meeting Monday that includes an agenda item about conference alignment. The session comes amid speculation that Texas A&M is leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference.

• Anti-BCS group files complaint: A group critical of the BCS is challenging the legality of a contract that calls for the Fiesta Bowl to receive more than $8 million over 20 years from an Arizona visitors bureau, and for the bowl to require teams and their affiliated groups to stay at hotels in Scottsdale and a nearby town.

Playoff PAC calls this a “kickback,” and has filed a complaint with the attorneys general of nines states seeking investigations.

Ex-Irish coordinator involved in standoff

Miscellany: Former Notre Dame football defensive coordinator and NFL player Corwin Brown was taken from his home in Granger, Ind., with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a nearly seven-hour standoff, police said.

St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Commander Tim Corbett said he did not know whether Brown’s injuries were life-threatening.

Police say they heard gunshots inside the home shortly after they arrived about 1 p.m. in response to a reported domestic dispute. Brown’s wife and children exited the house sometime later and police say they began trying to talk him out, using cellphones and a bullhorn.

• Rondo, Jackson set deadline for decision: With NBA training camps due to open in the first week of October, Boston guard Rajon Rondo and Milwaukee forward Stephen Jackson have set an Oct. 1 deadline for deciding if they’ll play in Europe or elsewhere, or wait out the labor impasse that threatens to wipe out games and possibly, the entire 2011-12 season.

• Instant replay approved for College World Series: The NCAA has given final approval for the use of instant replay to review certain calls at the 2012 College World Series.

Reviewable plays would be limited to deciding if an apparent home run is fair or foul, whether a batted ball left the playing field for a home run or a ground-rule double, or whether there is fan interference on apparent home runs.

• Hollendorfer into horse racing Hall of Fame: Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, closing in on 6,000 wins, and champion fillies Open Mind, Safely Kept and Sky Beauty have been inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Hollendorfer was joined in the hall by three 19th century racing figures, jockey Shelby Barnes, trainer Matthew Byrnes and the champion horse Duke of Magenta.