Williams sisters ousted in Cincinnati

The Williams sisters have seldom spent such a miserable day together.

Venus Williams botched routine shots all the way through a 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to Flavia Pennetta on Thursday, the first major upset at the Cincinnati Open. She made 38 unforced errors, repeatedly dumping balls into the net or well beyond the baseline.

Playing on the same court a few hours later, Serena Williams topped her sister in confounding mistakes. She had 44 unforced errors during a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Sybille Bammer, who reached the quarterfinals of a tournament for only the third time this year.

In other matches, Kim Clijsters continued her impressive comeback with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Rafael Nadal breezed to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Philipp Petzschner in third-round play in the Rogers Cup at Montreal in the first real test of the tendinitis in both knees that kept him sidelined for the last 10 weeks. Elsewhere, Roger Federer shook off some rust in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, and Andy Roddick outlasted Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (5).

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL

School president stands by Pitino

University of Louisville President James Ramsey says it’s time to move on after Rick Pitino’s public apology for sex with a woman outside his marriage. Ramsey said that the basketball coach is “our guy” and that he believes the school will become stronger following Pitino’s expression of remorse Wednesday.

Florida State has signed men’s basketball Coach Leonard Hamilton to a five-year contract that will pay him $1.5 million a year with potential bonuses of another half-million dollars.

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JURISPRUDENCE

Man charged in beer incident

Chicago police charged a 21-year-old man with two misdemeanor counts in connection with a beer-throwing incident that showered Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino. John Macchione of Bartlett, Ill., was charged with battery and illegal conduct within a sports facility, according to police.

A grand jury is expected to decide next week whether Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane should face criminal charges after a dispute that left a cab driver in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., bruised and with broken glasses.

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HOCKEY

Ducks acquire wing Artyukhin

The Ducks have acquired 6-foot-5 right wing Evgeny Artyukhin from Tampa Bay for left wing Drew Miller and a third-round selection in the 2010 NHL draft.

Artyukhin, 26, led the Lightning with 151 penalty minutes last season, and had six goals and 10 assists in 73 games. With one year left on his contract, he will become an unrestricted free agent in 2010.

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ETC.

Phelps uninjured in car accident

Michael Phelps was driving an SUV that collided with another car in Baltimore, but the Olympic gold medal swimmer was not injured, police said.

The female driver of a Honda Accord was “shaken up” and taken to a local hospital as a precaution, police said. Two passengers in Phelps’ Cadillac Escalade were not injured, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Nastia Liukin had a solid but less than perfect beam routine at the U.S. championships in Dallas. Liukin scored a 14.45, then exited stage right having skipped the uneven bars.

With Liukin out of the mix for the all-around, 2007 junior national champion Rebecca Bross jumped into the lead after the first day, with 58.55 points, 0.35 points ahead of Ivana Hong of Laguna Hills.

Famed trainer Bob Baffert will be inducted into horse racing’s Hall of Fame today in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Other inductees will be jockey Eddie Maple, steeplechase trainer Janet Elliot, champion horse Tiznow, Baffert’s star filly Silverbulletday, and steeplechase horse Ben Nevis II. Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron will be the main speaker.

Quentin Richardson was traded for the fourth time since the end of last season, moving from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Miami Heat in exchange for center Mark Blount. . . . The Clippers reached a multiyear broadcast agreement with KFWB-AM (980) . . . . Lavelle Felton, a 29-year-old German league basketball player, was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head after he was attacked leaving a gas station in his hometown of Milwaukee. . . . U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey, 26, has extended his contract with English club Fulham until the end of the 2012-13 season. . . . Troy Dumais won his 28th career national title, taking the 1-meter event at the national diving championships at Tallahassee, Fla.