Venus Williams Easily Reaches Warsaw Final

Venus Williams defeated third-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the final of the J&S; Cup in Warsaw on Saturday.

Williams, who retired from last year’s final because of a stomach muscle injury, will play fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated ninth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-2.

Williams was tested during strong baseline exchanges but always had the upper hand against Zvonareva, who beat her at the French Open last year.

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Fourth-seeded Martin Verkerk and Nikolay Davydenko posted straight-set victories in the semifinals of the BMW Open in Munich, Germany.

Verkerk fought off a set point before beating Olivier Rochus, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Davydenko needed 84 minutes to defeat Luis Horna, 6-4, 6-1.

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Gaston Gaudio and Tommy Robredo won their semifinal matches in the Open Seat Godo at Barcelona, Spain.

Gaudio, the 2002 champion and seeded 13th, beat Albert Montanes, 6-3, 6-4. The eighth-seeded Robredo defeated Kristof Vliegen, 6-4, 6-3.

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Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten has withdrawn from the Italian Open because of a right hip injury. He was forced to retire from his quarterfinal match against Gaston Gaudio on Friday in Barcelona.

Swimming

Erik Vendt broke a meet record in the 400 individual medley, finishing in 4 minutes 23.87 seconds at the Grand Challenge Invitational at USC.

Vendt, a former USC swimmer who was second in the 400 IM at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, also won the 400 freestyle Saturday in 3:55.71.

Austrian Olympian Markus Rogan, the 200 individual medley winner Friday, took the 200 backstroke in 2:02.07. Kellan O’Connor, another former USC swimmer, won the 100 butterfly in 55.16.

The three-day meet concludes today.

Hockey

Chris Drury of the Buffalo Sabres scored off a rebound at 15:25 in the third period to help the United States defeat Russia, 3-2, in its qualifying-round opener at the world championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Florida Panther captain Olli Jokinen scored two goals to lead Finland to a 6-0 victory over Denmark in the other Group F game. Finland and Slovakia lead the standings with five points. The U.S. has three, Russia two and Denmark none.

The American Hockey League suspended Hamilton Bulldog forward Alexander Perezhogin indefinitely, pending a league review, after his stick-swinging attack to the head of Cleveland Baron defenseman Garrett Stafford during Friday night’s playoff game in Hamilton, Canada.

Stafford sustained a concussion and a cut on his face, and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Miscellany

Top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh extended their pro beach volleyball winning streak to 71 matches at the AVP Austin Open in Texas. They defeated eighth-seeded Barbra Fontana and Jen Kessy, 21-13, 21-10, to advance to today’s semifinals against fifth-seeded Lisa Arce and Leanne McSorley.

Pat Tillman memorabilia have become hot items on the online auction site EBay, and many people are offended that sellers are trying to profit from the former NFL player who was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Most of the items are NFL trading cards, photos and magazines related to Tillman.

Two Ohio State football players were arrested and charged with robbery after Kenneth Whitwell, a student, accused them of assaulting and robbing him on campus in Columbus at 3 a.m. Saturday morning. Coach Jim Tressel suspended the players, sophomores Louis Irizarry and Ira Guilford, indefinitely.

Kevin Han and Howard Bach of Orange County qualified for the Athens Olympics, finishing 21st in the International Badminton Federation’s yearlong doubles rankings.

Montana basketball Coach Pat Kennedy will be interviewed today for the head coaching job at Towson University, the Baltimore Sun reported.