Russia Leads U.S. in Fed Cup

The United States lost its opening two matches to defending Fed Cup champion Russia on Saturday, with Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and Mashona Washington falling in the semifinals at Moscow.

Anastasia Myskina rallied past Williams, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, and Elena Dementieva defeated Washington, 7-5, 6-4, in the American’s Fed Cup debut.

Williams is the leader of a weakened U.S. team. Sister Serena Williams, the Australian Open champion, and top-ranked Lindsay Davenport are injured.

Myskina ended Williams’ eight-match Fed Cup undefeated streak and sent the American to her first defeat on clay in six Fed Cup matches.

In the other semifinal, France took a 2-0 lead over Spain at Aix-en-Provence, France. Amelie Mauresmo defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4, 6-3, and Mary Pierce beat Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-4, 6-4.

The best-of-five competition concludes today with reverse singles and doubles. The semifinal winners play for the title Sept. 17-18.

The U.S. has won the competition 17 times -- more than any other nation -- and been runner-up nine times. Russia reached the final four times before defeating France last season for its first title.

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Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat third-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Swedish Open at Bastad.

Nadal, the 19-year-old French Open champion, won his fourth consecutive straight-set match in the clay-court event. He will play Tomas Berdych in today’s final. Berdych defeated Jiri Vanek, 7-5, 6-1.

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Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Razvan Sabau, 7-6 (7), 6-4, in the semifinals of the Swiss Open at Gstaad. He will play second-seeded Gaston Gaudio today in his first ATP Tour final. Gaudio defeated seventh-seeded Nicolas Massu, 6-3, 6-2.

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Second-seeded Vince Spadea advanced to the final at the Hall of Fame Championships at Newport, R.I., beating seventh-seeded Paul Goldstein, 7-6 (6), 6-2. He will play third-seeded Greg Rusedski, who beat Wesley Moodie, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

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Jim Courier, a two-time winner of both the Australian and French Opens and a member of two Davis Cup championship teams, leads a class of four inductees into the Tennis Hall of Fame. He is joined by Yannick Noah, Jana Novotna and Butch Buchholz.

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College Football

Wyatt Sexton, the Florida State quarterback who was found disheveled and disoriented on a Tallahassee street last month, has been diagnosed with Lyme disease and will sit out this season.

Seminole Coach Bobby Bowden said the university would seek a sixth year of eligibility for Sexton, who has already used his redshirt season.

Utah senior defensive end Marquess Ledbetter will sit out this season after having surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right thigh. He suffered the injury while lifting weights.

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Pro Hockey

Representatives of the NHL and the players’ association planned to meet again today in New York to continue documenting the last remaining details of a new collective bargaining agreement. The 10-member NHL executive committee will meet on Monday in New York to review the many issues that have been resolved, and the league and the union are collaborating on a news release that will announce a final agreement. That announcement is expected no later than Wednesday.

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Pro Basketball

The Memphis Grizzlies agreed to terms with first-round draft choice Hakim Warrick, the 19th overall pick. He signed a two-year deal with team options for the third and fourth years.

The 6-foot-9 forward played four years at Syracuse, averaging 15.4 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. Last season, he averaged 21.4 points and 8.6 rebounds and was the Big East Conference player of the year.

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College Basketball

St. Joseph’s center Dwayne Jones is skipping his senior season for a shot at the NBA. Jones is negotiating with the Minnesota Timberwolves.