Briefly
The French Open lost some of its luster Friday when former champion Serena Williams pulled out hours before the draw.
Williams, who sprained her left ankle in early April, said she still hasn’t recovered enough to play this Grand Slam event, which starts Monday.
“I am very disappointed to be forced to withdraw,” Williams said, according to the WTA. “Roland Garros is a fantastic global event with great fans, and I look forward to participating in next year’s tournament.”
Williams, the 2002 French Open champion, won the Australian Open this year for her seventh Grand Slam title. She was replaced by Russia’s Elena Dementieva as the fourth-seeded player in the draw.
No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who rarely plays well on clay and has never gotten past the semifinals at the French, starts against Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik.
On the men’s side, Roger Federer, seeded No. 1, plays his first match against either a qualifier or a lucky loser, and has a relatively easy path until a possible quarterfinal match against Argentina’s David Nalbandian, No. 10, a semifinalist last year.
•At Istanbul, Turkey, top-seeded Venus Williams beat Bulgaria’s Tszvetana Pironkova 6-1, 6-3 despite numerous errors on a windy day to reach the Istanbul Cup final.
She will play for the title today against Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic. Vaidisova, seeded second, defeated third-seeded Anna Smashnova of Israel 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the other semifinal.
Olympics
USOC chairman warns New York
The U.S. Olympic Committee chairman warned the state’s top lawmakers that New York will lose its chance to land the 2012 Summer Games if a plan for a Manhattan stadium is not approved, according to a letter released Friday.
In a May 5 letter to the leaders of the two houses of the state Legislature, Peter Ueberroth said failure to approve the stadium “would grievously damage New York’s Olympic bid and America’s Olympic movement.”
New York, Madrid, Moscow, London and Paris are the Olympic finalists, with the IOC to vote on a host city July 6. Some consider New York a long shot even if it finalizes a stadium deal.
•Jailed IOC vice president Kim Un-yong, formerly one of the most powerful figures in the Olympic movement, resigned from the organization rather than face expulsion for ethical misconduct.
Hockey
NHL says ‘some progress’ made
The NHL and players’ union made some progress and promised further negotiations after 22 hours of talks over two days.
Negotiators for the players and the owners held discussions for eight hours Friday, and plan to get together again sometime next week, although that hasn’t been worked out between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and players’ association executive director Bob Goodenow.
Football
James misses start of minicamp
Edgerrin James was a no-show as the Indianapolis Colts began a mandatory minicamp session amid his effort to get a new long-term contract from the team or be traded.
The former two-time NFL rushing champion signed a one-year franchise offer from the Colts in March that will pay him a little more than $8 million this year.
•Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. will be charged with disregarding safety in the motorcycle crash that put his 2005 season in jeopardy, police said.
Police in suburban Westlake, Ohio, issued a citation Friday afternoon, Lt. Ray Arcuri said. The charge carries a maximum fine of $150 with no jail time.
Winslow tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he crashed, two sources within the league told the Associated Press. An injury such as Winslow’s typically requires 10 to 12 months of rehabilitation.
Sports people
Bell wins cruiserweight title
O’Neil Bell won the vacant IBF cruiserweight title, earning a unanimous decision over Dale Brown, at Hollywood, Fla. Bell, from Jamaica, landed solid rights to Brown’s head and was effective with combinations to the body in the 12-round bout. He led on all three judges’ cards, 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113. The IBF title became vacant after former champion Kelvin Davis was stripped of the belt for not fighting Bell, a mandatory challenger… . At Rovereto, Italy, Alessandro Petacchi won the 12th stage of the Giro d’Italia in a mass sprint finish while Ivan Basso kept the overall lead. Petacchi, who won a stage for the second time in this year’s race, overtook fellow Italian Paride Grillo in the final yards. All the favorites completed the 110-mile ride from Alleghe to Rovereto in 4 hours, 50 minutes. Grillo finished second and Spain’s Isaac Galvez Lopez was third.