Andy Murray defeats James Blake, faces Roger Federer next

Andy Murray defeated James Blake, 6-2, 6-2, Thursday to set up a semifinal meeting with Roger Federer at the inaugural Capitala World Tennis Championship at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In the other first-round match, Nikolay Davydenko ousted Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-4, and will face Rafael Nadal in today’s other semifinal.

Nadal and Federer received first-round byes in the exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour but features six of the world’s top 10 players and offers a winner-take-all prize of $250,000. Murray broke Blake in the third game and then took a 5-2 lead after using two forehand winners for another break.

The struggling Blake was then broken twice in a row in the second set as Murray moved out to a 4-0 lead.

Roddick started by hitting three aces in his opening service game but was broken in the next after missing a forehand, which was enough to give Davydenko the set. Roddick then made two unforced errors in the fourth game of the second set to give Davydenko another break.

The top-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Federer will begin their ATP season by playing in the Qatar Open in Doha starting Monday. Murray, the defending champion, and Roddick are also playing in the tournament.

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WINTER SPORTS

Northug, Follis win in ski series

Petter Northug of Norway won the men’s sprint and Arianna Follis of Italy won the women’s race in the fifth leg of the World Cup’s annual Tour de Ski series at Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic.

Northug led a Norwegian double, edging Tor Arne Hetland in the 1.2-kilometer freestyle race. Italy’s Cristian Zorzi finished third.

Dario Cologna of Switzerland was fifth and leads the tour overall with a cumulative time of 1 hour 26 minutes 2.4 seconds.

Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria earned his first World Cup victory, taking the second leg of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Loitzl, who finished second in the first leg in Oberstdorf on Monday, had jumps of 134.5 and 136.5 meters in the annual New Year’s Day meet for a total of 276.3 points. Overall World Cup leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland was second with 274.6 points after jumps of 140 and 134.5 meters.

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ETC.

In Summation gets repeat win

In Summation won the $100,000 El Conejo Handicap for the second consecutive year, defeating Machismo by a length at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, In Summation covered 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.58 and paid $4.40 and $2.60. Machismo returned $4.20. There was no show wagering after the late scratch of Its in God’s Hands.

Black Seventeen was another 2 1/2 lengths back in third. Johnny Eves, the 17-10 second choice, was eased by jockey Garrett Gomez after faltering in the stretch.

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has dismissed the latest speculation linking him with Real Madrid and says he plans to stay at Manchester United. . . . Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Tanguay will sit out six weeks after injuring his left shoulder in a game this week.