Federer Reaches Monte Carlo Quarterfinals

Top-ranked Roger Federer defeated Benjamin Balleret, 6-3, 6-2, on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion improved to 31-1 overall this year, with only second-ranked Rafael Nadal beating him.

Federer will next play eighth-seeded David Ferrer, who defeated 11th-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Nadal advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Kristof Vliegen, extending his winning streak on clay to 39 matches.

He next plays sixth-seeded Guillermo Coria, who served 23 double faults in a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Nicolas Kiefer.

In other matches, Tommy Robredo upset third-seeded David Nalbandian, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic beat Gilles Simon, 6-3, 6-2, and seventh-seeded Gaston Gaudio beat Alessio di Mauro, 6-2, 6-4.

JURISPRUDENCE

Former Viking Guilty

of Disorderly Conduct

Former Minnesota Viking running back Moe Williams, charged last fall after a team boat party that tarnished the team’s season, was found guilty of disorderly conduct.

A Minneapolis jury found him not guilty of two other misdemeanors -- indecent conduct and lewd or lascivious behavior.

Williams was accused of touching the breasts of a dancer in a public space during the boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka.

Williams was fined $300 and ordered to complete 30 hours of community service that benefits women or children.

Former major league outfielder Derek Bell was charged with felony cocaine possession in Tampa, Fla., police said. Bell, 37, was pulled over for a traffic violation.

“He was found with a crack pipe in the back seat of his car which was still warm,” police spokesman Larry McKinnon said.

SOCCER

MLS All-Stars to Play

English Power Chelsea

Chelsea, which is a point away from winning its second straight English Premier League title, will play in the MLS All-Star game on Aug. 5.

Chelsea will be the third foreign team in four years to play in the midseason exhibition. The game will be played at Bridgeview Stadium in Chicago.

The match originally was scheduled for July 29, but it had to be pushed back a week to accommodate English player union rules requiring a 30-day break between the World Cup and the start of club training. The World Cup in Germany runs June 9-July 9.

Four MLS games originally scheduled for Aug. 5 will be moved to the weekend of July 29.

The New England Revolution-Chivas USA game scheduled for Aug. 6 will remain as scheduled at the Home Depot Center so it can be part of a doubleheader involving Spanish league champion Barcelona.

MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche said it was unclear how players from Chivas USA or the Revolution, if selected for the All-Star game, would be able to participate.

Chivas USA will announce today that it will play CONCACAF Champion Club America of Mexico on July 23 at 4 p.m. at the Home Depot Center.

Club America won the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday night, beating Toluca, 2-1, at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

*

-- Grahame L. Jones

PRO FOOTBALL

Bengals’ Johnson Gets

Contract Extension

Chad Johnson got a two-year extension as part of a reworked contract that substantially increases his pay and could keep him with the Cincinnati Bengals through 2011.

The three-time Pro Bowl receiver, who led the AFC with a career-high 97 catches last season, had been under contract through 2009. The new deal could pay him an average of $10.75 million a year in bonuses and salary, far more than his previous contract.

DIVING

Bryant Wins Women’s

One-Meter Diving

Kelci Bryant won the women’s one-meter springboard title in the U.S. Open diving championships at Indianapolis, taking the lead on her third dive and holding on to finish more than three points ahead of Christina Loukas.

Bryant, a 17-year-old who trains in Indianapolis, was the favorite after winning national championships in the one- and three-meter springboard last year.

Loukas, who won Big Ten titles in the one-meter at Indiana in 2005 and 2006, led after each of the first two rounds and had the best score of the finals with a 62.40 on the last of her five dives. But it wasn’t enough to overtake Bryant.

Bryant finished with 271 points, and Loukas had 267.25. China’s Qiongjie Huang, who attends the University of Hawaii, was third at 266.60.

HORSE RACING

Jockey Velazquez

Injured at Keeneland

Jockey John Velazquez was injured at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., when his horse collapsed and rolled onto him after winning the Forerunner Stakes.

The two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey was taken by ambulance to University of Kentucky Hospital for testing and X-rays, where he was stable Thursday night.

Up An Octave broke down and fell about a sixteenth of a mile past the finish line and had to be euthanized on the track

Barry Schumer, a Keeneland doctor, said Velazquez was “awake and alert” following the race.

PASSINGS

Former Notre Dame

End Bob Dove, 85

Bob Dove, a Hall of Fame end at Notre Dame who played eight seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Cardinals and Detroit, died Wednesday at a nursing home in Austintown, Ohio, following a lengthy illness. He was 85.