Serena Williams in another final; Federer and Nadal to face off

A week out from the French Open, Serena Williams is one victory away from winning her fourth straight tournament.

The top-ranked American overcame an early break of her serve to ease past Romanian qualifier Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-0, Saturday and reach the Italian Open final in Rome, extending her career-best winning run to 23 matches.

Williams is coming off consecutive titles in Miami, Charleston and Madrid.

In Sunday’s final, Williams will face third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who kept her concentration through two rain delays to beat seventh-seeded Sara Errani, 6-0, 7-5.

On the men’s side, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will renew their rivalry in the Italian Open final Sunday.

In the semifinals at the Foro Italico, Federer held off a stiff challenge from Frenchman Benoit Paire, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Six-time Rome champion Nadal defeated sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, 6-2, 6-4, a day after Berdych rallied to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

It will mark Nadal’s eighth consecutive final since his return earlier this year from a seven-month layoff because of a left knee injury. As for Federer, who recently returned from a seven-week break from the circuit, it will be his first final of the year.

ETC.

David Beckham takes a final bow

David Beckham hugged his teammates with tears in his eyes, then walked off the pitch to a standing ovation — for the last time in front of a home crowd at a soccer game.

A clearly emotional Beckham was mobbed by his Paris Saint-Germain teammates on the field in Paris when Coach Carlo Ancelotti decided to substitute him in the 81st minute of a 3-1 win over Brest on Saturday, giving him a customary send-off in his last ever home game before retiring. Even goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu ran out to congratulate the former England captain on his career, while Brazil winger Lucas bowed in reverence.

As the crowd rising to its feet — including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy — Beckham applauded in return as he walked off the pitch slowly before being replaced by Ezequiel Lavezzi.

With PSG already having clinched the French league title, Beckham announced Thursday that he is retiring at the end of the season. He has yet to say whether he intends to play in PSG’s last game away against Lorient on May 26.

While Zlatan Ibrahimovic again was PSG’s main figure on the field, scoring twice, this game was Beckham’s moment from the start.

He was given the captain’s armband for the first time since joining the team on the last day of the January transfer window, and was given a rousing reception at Parc des Princes before the game, with fans breaking out into chants of “Merci, David” when his name was read out over the stadium speaker.

He showed he can still contribute on the field as well, setting up midfielder Blaise Matuidi for 2-0 with a well-taken corner kick in the 31st minute.

And when it came time to leave the pitch, chants of “Dav-eed Beckham, Dav-eed Beckham” broke out among the French fans — who rarely embrace anything English — while the entire PSG trotted over to give him a hug. Even Brest’s Charlison Benschop — who had scored the team’s consolation goal a minute earlier — walked over to shake his hand.

After blowing a kiss to wife Victoria and his children in the stands as he walked off, there was time for one more hug — this one a bit longer from Ancelotti — before he sat down on the bench, maybe for the last time.

Keegan Bradley overcame two early bogeys and maintained his lead at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas, with a two-under 68 in the third round.

Bradley had a 13-under 197 total for a one-stroke lead over Sang-Moon Bae and two-shot advantage over Tom Gillis. Bae shot a 66 and Gillis a 67.

Chella Choi shot her second straight six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Jessica Korda and Anna Nordqvist, the Swede who broke the course record with a 61 in the third round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in Alabama.

Hall of Famer Karrie Webb was two strokes back after a 69.

Graeme McDowell reached the semifinals of the World Match Play Championship after knocking out defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts, whose day include the bizarre moment of taking a penalty drop inside a restroom.

McDowell rallied from an early deficit to win, 2 and 1, over his European Ryder Cup teammate on the oceanside Thracian Cliffs course in Kavarna, Bulgaria, and will next face Branden Grace of South Africa, who beat Chris Wood of England, 2 and 1. The other semifinal will pit Thomas Aiken of South Africa against Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.

Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter bested IndyCar racing’s big-name teams by claiming his first Indianapolis 500 pole Saturday during the “Fast Nine” qualifying session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Carpenter’s four-lap average in the No. 20 Chevrolet was 228.762 mph.

Andretti drivers swept the next three spots as Carloz Munoz (228.342) took the front middle, Marco Andretti (228.261) the outside front and E.J. Viso (228.150) the inside of Row 2. Penske’s A.J. Allmendinger and Will Power rounded out the second row.

In men’s tennis, top-seeded UCLA posted its fourth consecutive shutout of the NCAA tournament at Urbana, Ill., downing No. 9 Duke, 4-0, in a quarterfinal showdown at the University of Illinois’ Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex. UCLA (28-1) advanced to Monday’s semifinals, where it will face No. 5-seed Ohio State (35-2).

The No. 4-seeded USC team had its hopes of a fifth consecutive national championship upended by No. 5 Ohio State in a gut-wrenching quarterfinal bout that saw the Buckeyes pull out a 4-3 win. The teams met in a rematch of the 2009 NCAA title match — which sparked the Trojans’ run to four in a row. The ended a streak of 27 consecutive NCAA tournament match wins by the Trojans, who finish 2013 with a 26-5 record.

In another quarterfinal, No. 3 Georgia defeated Pepperdine, 4-2l.

In a round of 16 match that ended at 2 a.m. Saturday in Urbana, the seventh-seeded UCLA women’s tennis team beat No. 10 Michigan, 4-0. The Bruins will face No. 2 North Carolina in the quarterfinals Sunday.

UCLA’s women’s softball team defeated Indiana Purdue Ft. Wayne, 10-0, and mercied regional host Louisville, 19-2, in five innings Saturday. The Bruins will face Alabama Birmingham on Sunday. The Bruins must defeat UAB twice to reach the super-regional.

In NCAA men’s golf, UCLA easily won the regional at Tempe, Ariz., with Jonathan Garrido, Anton Arboleda and Pedro Figueiredo finishing in the top seven. USC finished fourth at Pullman, Wash., to qualify for the NCAA finals at Atlanta, with Sam Smith tying for individual honors.

The San Diego Chargers agreed to a two-year deal with aging star pass rusher Dwight Freeney that could be worth $13.35 million.

The deal to bring Freeney to the Chargers came four days after outside linebacker Melvin Ingram tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a padless practice.

Freeney is 33 and entering his 12th season. He will make $5.25 million this season.

Reto Berra made 29 saves, and Nino Niederreiter, Julian Walker and Reto Suri scored to help Switzerland beat the United States 3-0 on in the world hockey semifinals in Stockholm. Switzerland, 9-0 in the tournament, will face Sweden in the final Sunday. Sweden beat Finland 3-0.