Tennis

Fourth-seeded Mary Pierce of France overpowered wild-card entry Asa Carlsson of Sweden, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals of the $400,000 Virginia Slims of Houston.

Skiing

Thomas Grandi of Banff, Canada, went from sixth place after the first run to win the men’s giant slalom in the U.S. Alpine Championships at Winter Park, Colo.

Grandi, .65 seconds behind first-run leader Chris Puckett of Crested Butte, Colo., had a second run of 1 minute, 10.08 seconds that was more than a second faster than any other skier. That gave him a combined time of 2:17.71.

Jeremy Nobis of Park City, Utah, finished second in 2:18.46. Puckett was third in 2:19.18.