Roger Federer moves on; Rafael Nadal is next

Roger Federer’s rough summer finally got a warm moment at one of his favorite tournaments, providing a little encouragement with the U.S. Open just ahead.

Federer overcome a tough start and emerged from his string of subpar showings since Wimbledon, beating Tommy Haas, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals in the Western & Southern Open at Mason, Ohio.

While Federer took a step, No. 1 Novak Djokovic got one win closer to a little ATP history. He needed only 50 minutes to beat qualifier David Goffin, 6-2, 6-0, and reach the quarterfinals.

Djokovic has lost four finals in Cincinnati, the only Masters series event he has yet to win. A victory would make him the first player to win all nine Masters.

Fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Grigor Dimitrov, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, in a two-hour evening match and will play Federer in the quarterfinals Friday night.

On the women’s side, second-seeded Victoria Azarenka, fifth-seeded Li Na, 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and 14th-seeded Jelena Jankovic advanced to the quarterfinals.

ETC.

Stroud, Fisher (64) lead at Greensboro

Chris Stroud and Ross Fisher each shot six-under-par 64 to share the first-round lead in the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro, N.C.

Eight players — defending champion Sergio Garcia, Matt Jones, Robert Garrigus, Jordan Spieth, Trevor Immelman, Morgan Hoffman, Patrick Reed and Andrew Svoboda — shot 65.

John Senden and Stuart Appleby were among the five players at 66 at the final tournament before the PGA Tour’s playoffs begin next week.

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Isaac Hamilton, a highly regarded senior shooting guard from Bellflower St. John Bosco High, has filed an official appeal with the National Letter of Intent committee asking that he be released from the letter he signed with Texas El Paso last fall.

Former USC coach Tim Floyd is now at UTEP and said Thursday the school is officially denying the request. UTEP has until Aug. 26 to file an official response and the NLI committee can take up to eight weeks to make a ruling.

Hamilton’s father, Greg, said Isaac wants to play somewhere in Los Angeles to be closer to his 85-year-old grandmother, who is ill. Floyd said that if the NLI committee grants the request, “You might as well not have the letter of intent.”

—Diane Pucin

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Skipper Max Sirena of Italy’s Luna Rossa is the latest America’s Cup competitor to accuse defending champion Oracle Team USA of cheating in what potentially could be one of the biggest scandals in the regatta’s 162-year history.

Oracle Team USA last week acknowledged its boats were modified without permission of the Measurement Committee for four America’s Cup World Series regattas last year, which were warmups to the 34th America’s Cup.

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The ROX West Coast Championships beach volleyball tournament will begin at noon Friday north of the pier in Hermosa Beach. Qualifying in the $50,000 National Volleyball League event is Friday, with the main draw starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. The women’s final Sunday is at 2:30 p.m., followed by the men’s final at 4. General admission is free.

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Longshot Affretando won the $77,000 Healthcare Purse at Del Mar when favorite and first-place finisher Vibrato Jazz was disqualified to second for interference.

Vibrato Jazz and jockey Victor Espinoza rallied to beat Affretando and Rafael Bejarano by a neck, but the stewards ruled the favorite drifted out in the stretch of the turf race, forcing Affretando and Bejarano to pull up.

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The Arena Football League is returning to the Los Angeles area with an expansion team named after the rock band KISS.

The L.A. Kiss will begin play in 2014 with home games at Honda Center.