Venus Williams Wins but Might Skip Title Match

Venus Williams twisted her ankle while avoiding an upset against Karolina Sprem on Saturday and said the injury could force her to withdraw from the German Open final against Amelie Mauresmo.

Mauresmo, seeded second, advanced to today’s title match of the $1.3-million clay-court tournament in Berlin with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over sixth-seeded Jennifer Capriati. The third-seeded Williams was overpowered in the first set but recovered to win, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. She wore tape on her left ankle after twisting it in the final game.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m going to deal with it tonight,” Williams said. “But I’m extremely motivated to play. So that’s a good sign.”

She trailed, 3-0, in the final set before regrouping to extend her winning streak to 15 matches. Sprem, 19, won the first set in 23 minutes against a player once ranked No. 1.

“She played unbelievably and it took me a while to find my game,” Williams said. “But I never thought I would lose, not even at 0-3.”

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Sixth-seeded Carlos Moya and fifth-seeded David Nalbandian won semifinal matches and will play for the title of the $2.9-million Italian Open in Rome.

Moya defeated Mariano Zabaleta, 6-3, 6-4, for his 20th match victory on clay this season, tops on the ATP tour. Nalbandian beat Albert Costa, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4.

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Hockey

Sweden defeated the United States, 3-2, setting up a rematch of last year’s final against Canada in the world championships at Prague, Czech Republic. Canada, which won on a disputed overtime goal last year, beat Slovakia, 2-1.

The United States hoped to create the first all-North American final in 54 years but instead will play Slovakia today in the bronze medal game.

Jonas Hoglund, now playing in Switzerland after eight years in the NHL, tipped in Michael Nylander’s pass to give Sweden a 2-0 lead with 1:02 left in the first period as Mike Grier served a double minor for high-sticking.

Richard Park of the Minnesota Wild cut the deficit to 2-1 at 11:06 of the second period when he shoveled a backhander past goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

P.J. Axelsson of the Boston Bruins restored Sweden’s two-goal lead with another power-play goal with 16 seconds left in the second period.

He beat New York Ranger goalie Mike Dunham with a wrist shot from between the circles after a perfect pass from Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings.

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Diving

The United States failed to win a medal for the second day in a row at the Grand Prix meet in Houston.

China’s Wang Fang won the gold in the three-meter event. Canada’s Alexandre Despatie took the silver and Japan’s Ken Terauchi the bronze. American Troy Dumais finished fourth with 485.37 points, just behind Terauchi’s 487.83.

In the women’s platform final, Li Ting of China edged Emilie Heymans of Canada. Heymans, fifth in this event at the Sydney Olympics, finished 13 1/2 points behind Li. Australia’s Loudy Tourky won the bronze. No U.S. divers qualified for the final.

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Jurisprudence

Georgetown basketball player Gerald Riley was charged with hitting a teammate at their home in Washington. He was arrested and released without bond, police said.

Police were called to the home in northwest Washington, and Riley was arrested and charged with felony threats and simple assault against Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw.

Riley, a senior guard and co-captain, was the Hoyas’ leading scorer last season, averaging 17 points. Kilkenny-Diaw, a junior forward, played all 28 games last season as a reserve.

Former USC cornerback Will Poole was released from the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail after serving less than one full day of a five-day sentence for driving under the influence. Inmates charged with nonviolent crimes are often eligible for early release because of overcrowding, sheriff’s deputy Steve Suzuki said.

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Miscellany

Sophomore Stacia Peterson scored with no time left in regulation to give fifth-ranked Loyola Marymount a 5-4 victory over second-ranked Stanford in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I women’s water polo championship at Stanford.

The Lions (25-5) will play top-ranked USC today for the title. The Trojans (28-0) advanced with a 12-4 victory over ninth-ranked Hartwick.

All-American Ryan Gomes of Providence made himself available for the NBA draft. The junior forward said he would not hire an agent, meaning he could withdraw from the draft by June 17 and retain his college eligibility.

Quarterback Tim Rattay of the San Francisco 49ers will have surgery to repair a torn muscle in his groin and is expected to be out for at least three months. The 49ers believe Rattay will return for training camp in August and be ready to play in San Francisco’s Sept. 12 season opener.

Shelley Glover, 17, a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s developmental squad, died in Bend, Ore., of head injuries suffered in a crash during a downhill training run Wednesday.

Glover, of Madison, Wis., was training in Oregon when she fell and hit her head, U.S. Ski Team spokesman Tom Kelly said.