Spadea Is Upset, but Dent Wins

Second-seeded Vincent Spadea was upset by French qualifier Michael Llodra, 6-4, 6-2, Friday in the quarterfinals of the AAPT Championships at Adelaide, Australia.

Llodra will next play fifth-seeded Taylor Dent, who beat 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

“I’m feeling more and more comfortable, but I’m not quite executing the way I’d like to be executing,” Dent said. “But then again, I’m never satisfied.”

Sixth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen ended the run of Australian wild-card Todd Reid, winning 6-2, 7-5. Nieminen will play Dominik Hrbaty, who defeated Cyril Saulnier, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

Reid, 19, upset top-seeded Wayne Ferreira in the opening round.

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Top-seeded Ai Sugiyama beat Samantha Stosur, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Australian women’s hard-court championships at Gold Coast.

Sugiyama will face second-seeded Nadia Petrova for the title. Petrova advanced by beating defending champion Nathalie Dechy, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

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Ivan Ljubicic defeated seventh-seeded Tim Henman, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (5), in a rain-delayed match to reach the finals of the Qatar Open at Doha.

Ljubicic will play wild-card entry Nicolas Escude today for the title. Escude beat eighth-seeded Agustin Calleri, 6-2, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Carlos Moya defeated Thierry Ascione, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Tata Open at Madras, India.

Moya will face third-seeded Sjeng Schalken, who rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the third set to beat fifth-seeded Felix Mantilla, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (6).

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Greg Rusedski insisted Friday that ATP trainers are responsible for his failed drug test and he contends he is being wrongly singled out by tennis’ ruling body.

The former U.S. Open runner-up said in a statement through his lawyers that he tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone because of supplements received from the trainers.

“I would invite the ATP to drop this case as it is clear that the source of this problem is tennis rather than anything I did or took,” he said.

The ruling body said in a statement it could not comment on pending doping investigations regarding ATP players.

Olympics

Star pitcher Lisa Fernandez was one of four two-time Olympians selected for the U.S. softball team that will try to win its third straight gold medal in Athens this summer.

Pitcher Lori Harrigan, outfielder Laura Berg and first baseman Leah O’Brien-Amico will also play in their third Olympics.

UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman, who hit the game-winning home run against China at the Sydney Games and drove in the tying run in the gold medal game against Japan, also returns.

Pitcher Jennie Finch, a two-time NCAA player of the year at Arizona, and UCLA shortstop Natasha Watley are among those who will play in their first Olympics.

Arizona’s Mike Candrea was named head coach. The roster must be approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Baseball

The New York Mets said they have made a contract offer to free-agent outfielder Vladimir Guerrero.

The Montreal Expo star is looking for a long-term deal, and Baltimore is thought to have offered $65 million over five years. The Met offer is said to be for three years, but it is hoped Guerrero’s desire to stay in the National League might help their negotiating position.

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The San Francisco Giants agreed to a $1.5-million, one-year contract with right-hander Brett Tomko, who could be the fourth starter for the defending NL West champions behind Jason Schmidt, Kirk Rueter and Jerome Williams.... Second baseman Marlon Anderson agreed to a $600,000, one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, who also finalized their $4.2-million, two-year deal with right-hander Julian Tavarez.

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Don Zimmer was hired as an advisor by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Zimmer, who turns 73 on Jan. 17, will be in uniform as a coach during spring training and for pregame practices at all regular-season home games.

He has been in baseball 55 years -- 33 as a major league coach or manager. He spent the last eight seasons as bench coach for the New York Yankees.

College Football

Former Oakland Raider Coach Bill Callahan, the first outsider in more than 40 years to coach Nebraska, will bring an NFL-style passing offense to a program that built its success on a dominant running game. He said he would unveil the West Coast offense, which typically features a short, controlled passing game.

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All-American defensive tackle Tommie Harris will forgo his senior season at Oklahoma and make himself available for the NFL draft.... Arizona State quarterback Andrew Walter will stay in school for his senior season. He passed for more than 3,000 yards for a second straight season but said he thinks he needs a strong senior year to be a high draft pick.

Miscellany

Jim McMahon will plead no contest to a drunken-driving charge but is challenging two breath tests to reduce his fine and other penalties.

McMahon’s lawyer, Tommy Ratchford, said he filed motions to obtain records on the Breathalyzer used to test the former Chicago Bear quarterback and interview a sheriff’s deputy who maintained the machine.

McMahon eventually will accept a prosecutor’s standard offer to first offenders charged with driving under the influence -- no jail time in exchange for a no-contest plea -- but not until after the testing issue is resolved, Ratchford said.

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Hayley Kim of Fullerton finished fifth in the women’s 1,500-meter race at the World Junior Short-Track Speedskating Championships at Beijing. Jade Wheeler of Los Alamitos was 20th. The relay team of Kim, Wheeler and Kristen Biondo advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 2,000-meter relay.

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Defending NCAA women’s gymnastics champion UCLA opens its season tonight against Utah in a nonconference meet at Pauley Pavilion. The two teams have won a combined 13 national championships. The Bruins, who return five All-American performers, ended Utah’s collegiate-record 170-meet home winning streak last season.