Federer Stops Agassi and Advances to Final

Roger Federer routed Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-1, in the Dubai Open semifinals Saturday in the United Arab Emirates and will play Ivan Ljubicic in a title match for the third time this year.

It was Federer’s sixth consecutive victory over Agassi, this one even more impressive than the one in straight sets in last month’s Australian Open quarterfinals. Agassi last defeated Federer in 2002.

Federer, the two-time defending Dubai champion, will play eighth-seeded Ljubicic only a week after beating him in the Rotterdam final. Last month, the Swiss star downed Ljubicic in the Doha final.

Ljubicic advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tommy Robredo.

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Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova won her second WTA Tour title this month, rallying past Alicia Molik, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, in the Qatar Open final in Doha.

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Australian Wayne Arthurs earned his second career final appearance with a 7-5, 7-6 (2) semifinal victory over Christophe Rochus in the Tennis Channel Open at Scottsdale, Ariz. Arthurs will meet Mario Ancic, who defeated Vince Spadea, 6-1, 6-4.

Winter Sports

Benjamin Raich led a 1-2 Austrian finish in a giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, and drew closer to overall World Cup leader Bode Miller, who lost a ski during the second run and slid off the course.

Raich was followed by Hermann Maier and Kalle Palander of Finland. Daron Rahlves of the United States was fifth.

Miller lost a ski while in the lead at the first split of the final run, giving up valuable points in his bid to become the first American to win the overall title in 22 years. His lead over Raich has been cut to 91 points.

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Sweden’s Anja Paerson became the second female skier in history to win World Cup races in all four disciplines in a season with her first downhill victory at San Sicario, Italy.

Croatia’s Janica Kostelic was second.

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Apolo Ohno and Hyo Jung Kim won 500-meter races to remain undefeated after the first three days of the U.S. National Short Track Speedskating Championships at West Allis, Wis.

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Jeremy Bloom’s six-race winning streak ended when Finland’s Mikko Ronkainen won the World Cup moguls finale at Voss, Norway. Bloom was second.

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Americans Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming finished third behind teams from Germany and England in the two-man event at the women’s bobsled world championships at Calgary, Canada.

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The official start of the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska was moved 30 miles northwest to Willow because of the lack of a solid snow base at Wasilla. The race is scheduled to start Saturday.

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Marit Bjorgen of Norway won the 30-kilometer classic mass start title at the Nordic world cross-county championships at Oberstdorf, Germany.

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Italy’s Marco Cattaneo won the American Birkebeiner, finishing the 51-kilometer cross-country race in 2 hours 3 minutes 14.6 seconds at Hayward, Wis.

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France’s Mathieu Crepel defeated Canada’s Crispin Lipscomb in a men’s halfpipe race at Hwoingseong, South Korea, to win his second consecutive World Cup snowboarding event.

Track and Field

John Godina won the shotput at the U.S. Indoor track championships in Boston with the longest indoor throw in the world this year. Godina’s winning toss was 71 feet 7 1/2 inches.

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Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia broke her indoor pole vault record by clearing 16 feet 1/2 inch at a meet in Lievin, France.

Miscellany

Paul Coleman (8-1) gave up three hits over a career-best 7 1/3 innings as Pepperdine (6-5) defeated top-ranked Tulane, 5-2, at Malibu. The Green Wave is 8-1.

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Fourth-ranked Cal State Fullerton (6-2) got two home runs and three runs batted in from second baseman Justin Turner in a 10-4 victory over Nevada Las Vegas (2-9) at Las Vegas.

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Miguel Cotto defended his World Boxing Organization junior welterweight title by stopping DeMarcus Corley in five rounds at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

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Former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Greg Page, 46, was hospitalized in fair condition with pneumonia and other complications in Louisville, Ky.

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Fabrice Tiozzo defended his WBA light heavyweight title with a sixth-round technical knockout of Dariusz Michalczewski at Hamburg, Germany.

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Ricky Carmichael won his sixth THQ World Supercross GP/THQ AMA Supercross Series race of the season, beating Chad Reed at Atlanta.

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Craig Whelihan passed for five touchdowns to lead the Las Vegas Gladiators (3-2) to a 40-32 victory over the Nashville Kats (1-4) in an Arena League football game at Nashville.

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Pacific won the men’s title and UC Irvine the women’s title in the Big West Conference swimming and diving championships at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

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Stanford won its fifth consecutive Pacific 10 Conference women’s swimming and diving championship at Federal Way, Wash.