Nadal finally breaks sweat to reach semis

TENNIS: After dropping a total of 19 games through his first four matches – the fewest at the French Open in 30 years – Rafael Nadal finally found himself in an even-as-can-be set at the outset of his quarterfinal against 12th-seeded Nicolas Almagro.

While Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have been forced to come back from two-set deficits in Paris, Nadal has breezed. Moving closer to a record seventh French Open championship, Nadal reached the semifinals by beating Almagro 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3 to improve to 50-1 at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.

The next player who will try to stop him is No. 6 David Ferrer, who, like Nadal and Almagro, is from Spain. Ferrer reached his third major semifinal, but first at Roland Garros, by eliminating No. 4 Andy Murray 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2.

The other men’s semifinal Friday will be No. 1-ranked Djokovic against No. 3 Federer.

In the women’s semifinals today, three-time major champion Maria Sharapova faces No. 4 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final won by Kvitova, while U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia meets No. 21 Sara Errani of Italy.

Hawks will give Banks serious look

Nfl: Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says the team intends to give Brian Banks a serious look – and potentially an invite to minicamp – during his tryout today.

Banks was a one-time high school star at Long Beach Poly who was recently exonerated in a California rape case in which he was falsely accused.

• Coughlin signs: Tom Coughlin signed a two-year contract extension through the 2014 season with the New York Giants.

Matsuzaka returning to Red Sox rotation

Baseball: Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to start Saturday against the Washington Nationals, one day short of a year after he had reconstructive elbow surgery.

• Rivera surgery scheduled: New Yok Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said the blood clot in his right calf has cleared up and he will have surgery on his injured knee Tuesday.

• Orioles sign Moyer: The Baltimore Orioles signed 49-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer to a minor-league deal Wednesday, and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Traina leads Tide to NCAA title

SOFTBALL: Jackie Traina threw a five-hitter and delivered a key RBI single, and Alabama became the first Southeastern Conference team to win a NCAA softball title, beating Oklahoma 5-4 in the final game of a best-of-3 series in Oklahoma City.

Traina gave up three home runs – two to Lauren Chamberlain, including one in the seventh inning – but fanned her Oklahoma counterpart, Keilani Ricketts, to end the game.

Alabama (60-8) took advantage of Ricketts’ wildness to score four runs in the fourth inning. The Crimson Tide overcame an early 3-0 deficit in a game delayed almost three hours because of steady rain.