Federer, Nadal reach semifinals

Top-ranked Roger Federer won his 500th career match Friday in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco, and Rafael Nadal extended his clay-court winning streak to 65.

Federer defeated 12th-seeded David Ferrer, 6-4, 6-0. The 10-time Grand Slam champion has not lost a set to Ferrer in six matches. Nadal, who beat Federer in the Monte Carlo final last year, beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2, 6-3.

In today’s semifinals, Federer will play Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Richard Gasquet, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. The second-seeded Nadal will play 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat Robin Soderling, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

*

The U.S. plays host to Belgium in the first round of the Fed Cup on outdoor hard courts in Delray Beach, Fla. In today’s singles matches, Serena Williams will play Kirsten Flipkens and Venus Williams will play Caroline Maes.

*

The match between No. 9 USC (20-1) and No. 10 UCLA (20-1) for the Pacific 10 Conference men’s team championship was rescheduled for today because of Friday’s rain. It will be played at 4 p.m. after the women’s match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

GOLF

Calcavecchia takes lead in New Orleans

Mark Calcavecchia shot a three-under-par 69 to move into the lead of the Zurich Classic at New Orleans. He is at nine-under 135, one shot ahead of Lucas Glover (69) and Nick Watney (67).

Kyle Reifers, who shot a course-record 64 in Thursday’s first round, had two bogeys and finished with a 73, leaving him tied for fourth at seven under with Charley Hoffman (69).

*

Mark James had an eagle and shot a five-under 67 for the first-round lead in chilly, windy conditions at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga.

James, seeking his second Champions Tour win of the year, had bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 that left him with a one-shot lead over defending champion Jay Haas, Tom Kite and Tom Purtzer.

MOTOR RACING

Bourdais clinches a front-row start

Sebastien Bourdais won the provisional pole for Sunday’s Champ Car World Series Grand Prix of Houston, circling the 1.69-mile course in 58.376 seconds. He had a fast lap of 103.789 mph to clinch a front-row start.

Series points leader Will Power finished second with a top speed of 102.852 mph. Champ Car rookie Graham Rahal, Bourdais’ teammate, was third at 102.695.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Oden makes it official: He’s leaving Ohio State

As expected, 7-foot freshman Greg Oden said that he will leave Ohio State after leading the Buckeyes to the national championship game and make himself available for the NBA draft, where he figures to be one of the top two picks along with Texas freshman forward Kevin Durant.

Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook, Oden’s freshman teammates, also said they will make themselves available for the draft.

Unlike Oden, they have opted not to hire an agent for now -- meaning they will retain the option of returning to school in the fall.

*

Georgetown assistant Sydney Johnson was hired to coach at Princeton. The only three-time basketball captain for the Tigers, the 32-year-old Johnson replaces Joe Scott, who resigned to take the head coaching job at the University of Denver.

*

For the second consecutive year, USC’s top women’s recruit has suffered a major knee injury before enrolling at the school. Stefanie Gilbreath of Cinco Ranch High in Katy, Texas, as did Jacki Gemelos last season, will sit out next season.

-- Jerry Crowe

PRO FOOTBALL

Dolphins assistant Williams is fired

The Miami Dolphins fired running backs coach Bobby Williams. The Dolphins said they would begin to search for a replacement immediately, but did not disclose why they fired Williams three months after new Coach Cam Cameron took over for Nick Saban.

Williams came to Miami from Louisiana State with Saban, who returned to college to coach Alabama after two seasons. Williams is a former head coach at Michigan State.

*

Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer has been invited to the April 28-29 NFL draft, where the league will honor the memory of the 32 people killed Monday in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. League spokesman Greg Aiello said that Beamer had accepted the invitation.

MISCELLANY

Hayden ties record in Australia’s win

Australia routed New Zealand by 215 runs at St. George’s, Grenada, the Black Caps’ biggest victory in a one-day Cricket World Cup match.

Matthew Hayden scored his record-tying third century of the tournament as Australia totaled 348-6 from its 50 overs.

*

Stanford suspended men’s swimming Coach Skip Kenney for two months without pay after an investigation into allegations that he erased the names and records of five former swimmers from team publications.

Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby said that Kenney exhibited a “serious lack of judgment”, but the investigation did not find any violation of NCAA rules.