Roddick reaches semifinals before playing Federer

Andy Roddick gets another crack at Roger Federer and likes his chances. And he’s not dwelling on his 1-14 record against the No. 1 player.

“There’s no reason for me to be nervous,” Roddick said. “I can go out there and let it fly. The way I see it . . . I can just go out there and play and go for my shots and play aggressive and try to knock him out.”

The fifth-ranked Roddick was nearly untouchable Wednesday, beating No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez, 6-1, 6-4, to clinch a semifinal spot at the season-ending Masters Cup at Shanghai.

Federer is the defending champion in a tournament featuring the top eight players. The Swiss star is trying to rebound from an opening round-robin loss to Gonzalez, the first time in 4 1/2 years he has dropped back-to-back matches.

Federer started a new winning streak by beating No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4, 6-3, to even his record at 1-1 and set up a Friday match with Roddick. Federer and Gonzalez are both in the running for the second semifinal spot from their Red Group.

In the Gold Group, second-ranked Rafael Nadal (1-1) will try to reach the semifinals when he plays today against No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who at 0-2 has been eliminated. David Ferrer (2-0) will meet Richard Gasquet (1-1).

Roddick committed only seven unforced errors and never faced a break point in beating Gonzalez. He lost only 11 points in nine service games.

“You have good days where everything feels pretty clean, and this was one of those,” Roddick said.

He ran off the first five games against Gonzalez, his confidence rising with each winner. And Gonzalez was nowhere nearly as sharp as he was in beating Federer two nights earlier.

Federer improved to 11-0 against Davydenko.

Davydenko’s appeal of his $2,000 fine -- which was assessed for “lack of best effort” in a recent tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia -- was upheld by the ATP.

“Following an extensive review of the match in St Petersburg between Nikolay Davydenko and Marin Cilic, that included a full video analysis, it was decided that Davydenko’s appeal should be upheld and the $2000 fine rescinded,” said Gayle David Bradshaw, the ATP’s Executive Vice President, Rules & Competition, in a statement.

Andy Murray, Britain’s highest-ranked player at No. 11, has split with American coach Brad Gilbert and will instead hire a team of experts to monitor his progress.

Murray had been working with Gilbert since July 2006 in a partnership financed by Britain’s Lawn Tennis Assn.

Gilbert has also coached Roddick and Andre Agassi.

GOLF

LPGA drug testing plan is announced

The LPGA Tour released its policy for drug testing that will start in February, making it the first pro golf organization to require randomly selected players to prove they are clean.

The policy is similar to the outline released a day earlier by the PGA Tour, which will not start testing its players until July.

The LPGA will suspend players one year for a first positive test, two years for the second offense and a lifetime ban for any more violations. It will not discriminate between performance-enhancing drugs and recreational drugs.

The LPGA Tour has not decided who will administer its drug testing.

For positive tests, Jill Pilgrim, the LPGA’s general counsel who will be in charge of the program, said the LPGA Tour would disclose the name of the player, the tournament at which she tested positive, the penalty and the specific substance involved.

Other details of the LPGA plan:

* If a winner tests positive, she will be treated like a disqualification. The runner-up will be declared the winner, and in case of a tie, the LPGA will award the victory to whoever had the lowest final round.

* For two-year suspensions, a player can regain membership only by essentially starting over. That means either a return to Q-school or getting sponsor exemptions.

* Any player who receives two doping-related suspensions will be ineligible for the Hall of Fame.

Former Dodgers pitcher Rick Rhoden had a hole-in-one to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Champions Tour’s National Qualifying Tournament at Coral Springs, Fla.

Rhoden, the winner of 50 celebrity golf titles, aced the 186-yard, 17th hole with a five-iron and finished with a two-under 70 for a six-under 138 total.

MISCELLANY

Valenzuela to return at Hollywood Park

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela, who hasn’t ridden locally in nearly a year, will return Saturday with two mounts at Hollywood Park.

Valenzuela, 45, whose career has been plagued by numerous suspensions for substance abuse problems, got a conditional license from the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday morning, which enabled him to be named on horses when entries were taken for Saturday.

Kicked by a horse in the walking ring at Hollywood Park last Nov. 26, Valenzuela was sidelined by broken ribs, then underwent knee surgery for a lingering problem. He received medical clearance to ride Oct. 20.

Without a license to ride in California, Valenzuela began his comeback Nov. 3 at Zia Park in New Mexico, winning with three of 20 mounts during a period that ended Sunday.

The two horses Valenzuela is scheduled to ride are Caddymaster for trainer Bob Hess Jr. in the seventh and Obrigado for trainer Neil Drysdale in the eighth.

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Serbia defeated the U.S., handing the Americans their first loss at the volleyball Women’s World Cup at Nagoya. Serbia improved to 7-2 with a 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory over the U.S., which fell to 8-1 with two matches remaining.

Cuba improved to 7-2 with a 22-25, 31-29, 25-23, 25-20 victory over Japan in a tournament with 12 teams bidding for three berths at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Hawaii’s Megan Abubo prevailed in the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, Oahu, to take an early lead in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing on the island’s North Shore.

The victory guaranteed Abubo’s re-qualification on next year’s ASP Women’s World Tour, formerly the World Championship Tour. The second leg of the series, the Roxy Pro, begins Nov. 25.