Gordon bounces back to win pole

Jeff Gordon, bouncing back from a hard crash in Las Vegas, felt much better Friday night after winning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Last Sunday, Gordon walked away without injury after bouncing off the car driven by Matt Kenseth and slamming into the wall in a hit that tore apart the front of his car.

“I was sore, but none of the soreness affected me in the race car,” Gordon said after posting a fast lap of 185.251 mph in a Chevrolet. Dale Earnhardt Jr., also driving a Chevrolet, was second at 184.852.

Sprint Cup Series star Kyle Busch, moonlighting in the Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks Series in the early part of the season, drove a Toyota to his second truck victory in three races this year, winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

TENNIS

Roddick advances

to final at Dubai

Sixth-seeded Andy Roddick served his way past third-seeded Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to advance to the final of the Dubai Championships in the United Arab Emirates. Roddick had 14 aces.

In the other semifinal, Feliciano Lopez defeated fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Roger Federer didn’t find out until “a couple of weeks ago,” but he had mononucleosis earlier in the season, his doctors have told him, according to Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick.

Venus Williams will play sister Serena in the semifinals of the Bangalore Open in India. Venus, seeded second, beat seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 6-4, 6-3, and Serena, seeded third, defeated Anastasia Rodionova, 6-1, 6-4.

Also advancing was Yan Zi, who upset top-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Guillermo Canas remained the lone seeded player left in the Tennis Channel Open at Las Vegas, beating qualifier Amer Delic, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals. He will play Sam Querrey, who defeated Julien Benneteau, 7-5, 6-2.

JURISPRUDENCE

Marion Jones starts

her prison term

Marion Jones began her six-month sentence in federal prison for lying to investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a check-fraud scam.

The former Olympic track star turned herself in at Federal Medical Center Carswell, on the Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Bureau of Prison spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said. Jones had until Tuesday to surrender to prison officials.

PRO FOOTBALL

Giants’ Coughlin agrees to four-year contract

Tom Coughlin was rewarded for the New York Giants’ Super Bowl victory, agreeing to terms on a four-year, $21-million contract that will make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches.

He will earn about $5.25 million annually, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press because the contract was not signed.

MISCELLANY

Arizona, Olson to meet about coach’s future

Arizona men’s basketball Coach Lute Olson’s recent leave for unspecified personal reasons has been under the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act and expired Friday, University of Arizona President Robert Shelton told the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen this week.

The federal law allows certain employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a one-year period to care for a newborn or adopted child, to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition or to take a medical leave because of the employee’s own serious health condition.

Olson said when he announced his leave earlier this season that the reason was not a “health scare” but a personal matter.

Shelton said Olson’s leave could be extended under other policies but said Athletic Director Jim Livengood and Olson would soon meet to decide whether Olson would coach next season as Olson had said he planned to.

-- Robyn Norwood

Former USC sprinter Angela Williams raced to a world-leading time of 7.06 seconds in the 60-meter dash to win the gold medal at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships at Valencia, Spain.

Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified for pushing, and Song Kyung-taek of South Korea won the 1,500 meters on the first day of the World Short-Track Speedskating Championships at Seoul.

Jose Luis Castillo failed to make weight for his 140-pound World Boxing Council elimination bout against Timothy Bradley at Cancun, Mexico, forcing the cancellation of his fourth major fight. Castillo didn’t even show up for the weigh-in.