National Digest
Serena loses
PARIS (AP) — For Serena Williams, missed chances came in a flurry Friday at the French Open.
She shanked overheads, hit wild volleys and squandered seven break points. The net result: a stunning third-round loss to Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4, 6-4.
The hasty exit matches Williams’ earliest in nine visits to Roland Garros and guarantees a first-time women’s champion. Williams, who won the French Open in 2002, was the lone former champion to enter the draw.
“I missed a lot of easy shots and a lot of key points that I felt like could have turned the match around,” a subdued Williams said shortly after the loss. “I wasn’t able to capitalize.”
Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal played for the fourth consecutive day in the rain-interrupted tournament and defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round.
Spoiled return
By The Associated Press
Joe Torre had a few feel-good moments in his managerial return to New York. There was, after all, that nice smattering of applause when he made a pitching change in the seventh inning.
But David Wright and the suddenly resurgent New York Mets made sure Torre couldn’t fully enjoy the experience, taking advantage of a rare catcher’s interference call to beat his Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 on Thursday night.
Always popular in town, Torre managed his first game in New York since parting ways with the Yankees last October after 12 winning seasons. When many fans in the crowd of 52,886 at Shea Stadium cheered during that pitching change, Torre waved while walking back to the dugout.
“That made me feel good. Considering the game, it made me feel good,” Torre said. “It was nice. The fact that I started it here. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago, but I look at the calendar, and it was.”
In other NL games Thursday, it was San Francisco 4, Arizona 3; Pittsburgh 7, Cincinnati 2; Atlanta 8, Milwaukee 1; the Chicago Cubs 8, Colorado 4; San Diego 5, Washington 2; and St. Louis 3, Houston 2.
Leaders meet
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ozzie Guillen’s memories of his days as a player for the Tampa Bay Rays are not so fond.
“Nobody even knew we were here,” the Chicago White Sox manager said, reflecting on the time he spent with the one-time AL East doormats eight years ago, when the Rays lost 92 games and it was difficult to envision them evolving into a first-place team.
“Finally, step-by-step, they’re going in the right direction,” Guillen said.
Guillen was back in St. Petersburg on Thursday for the start of a four-game series. The opener, won by Chicago 5-1 before of a crowd of 12,636, marked the first time teams in sole possession of first place in their divisions have met at Tropicana Field.
“I didn’t look at it any different than any other game. But deep down you know that they’re winning a tough East and we’re winning a tough Central, and this is a series where we feel like we can really make a statement,” White Sox pitcher John Danks said.
In other AL games, Toronto beat Oakland 12-0 and Minnesota handed Kansas City its 11th straight loss, 5-1.
TENNIS
PARIS (AP) — Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal showed what they can do when challenged.
The two highest-seeded men at the French Open had tougher-than-expected first sets, and both responded by reeling off game after game to move into the third round.
Although Federer wasn’t broken, he lost the first set in a tiebreaker before beating Albert Montanes of Spain 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4. Nadal faced a close call in the first set, but the three-time defending champion still beat Nicolas Devilder of France 6-4, 6-0, 6-1.
Seventh-seeded James Blake lost to 19-year-old Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and sixth-seeded David Nalbandian was upset by Jeremy Chardy of France 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
In a pair of routs, No. 5 David Ferrer beat Fabrice Sabtoro of France 6-0, 6-1, 6-0, and No. 16 Victoria Azarenka defeated Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea 6-0, 6-0.
The eighth-seeded Williams used a six-game run to beat 241st-ranked qualifier Selima Sfar of Tunisia 6-2, 6-4. Jankovic, seeded third and a semifinalist at Roland Garros last year, was bothered by a right arm injury but defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 7-6 (5).
Amelie Mauresmo, a two-time Grand Slam champion seeded 22nd, lost to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-4, and Maria Sharapova’s match against Bethanie Mattek of the United States was suspended because of darkness with the top-seeded Russian leading 6-2, 2-3.
GOLF
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Mathew Goggin took only nine putts over his final nine holes on his way to a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Jerry Kelly and two-time champion Kenny Perry at the Memorial.
Goggin holed out a bunker shot for birdie on the par-3 fourth, then ended his round with a 12-footer for par from off the green, giving him only 22 putts for his round.
Perry found the right speed and ran off six straight birdies on his way to a 66, also taking 22 putts. Kelly birdied four of his last six holes. Ten other players also managed to break 70 on a day when the average score was 73.7.
Shaun Micheel had a 55-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that traveled 35 yards back into the fairway. Boo Weekley watched a wedge land near the hole at the par-5 11th, only to spin back to the front of the green, off the green and into the creek for a triple bogey.
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — Annika Sorenstam’s name is everywhere at the Ginn Tribute except near the top of the leaderboard after the opening round.
Sorenstam’s even-par 72 left her seven shots behind co-leaders Karrie Webb and In-Kyung Kim, and tied for 60th at RiverTowne Country Club.
Sophie Gustafson was third at 66. U.S. Open winner Cristie Kerr led a group of seven another stroke back at 67.
The event lost world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa earlier this week when she left to be with her sick uncle in Mexico, leaving Sorenstam as the marquee attraction.
NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — Scott Strange made five straight birdies and shot an 8-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead over Edoardo Molinari in the first round of the Wales Open.
The 31-year-old Australian began his round at the 11th and his birdie run from the 14th gave him a nine-hole score of 7-under 28.
Molinari, an Italian who won the 2005 U.S. Amateur title, shot seven birdies for his 64. Jeev Milka Singh, Alvaro Velasco and Ricardo Gonzalez were tied at 65.
Because of heavy rain Wednesday, the course was shortened by 142 yards to a length of 7,210 yards.
HOCKEY
SHIPPAGAN, New Brunswick (AP) — Luc Bourdon, a promising rookie defenseman with the Vancouver Canucks, was killed when his motorcycle struck a tractor-trailer in a crash near his hometown. He was 21.
His death was confirmed by sister Eve Bourdon and stepmother Maryse Godin. Both declined further comment when reached at the family’s home in Shippagan.
SOCCER
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Soccer’s governing body lifted its international ban on Iraq to keep alive the World Cup qualifying hopes of a team that represents a rare symbol of national unity amid war and sectarian rivalries.
Iraq was suspended by FIFA, the sport’s overseers, on Tuesday after Iraq’s government dissolved the national Olympic Committee and all sports federations. FIFA said the Iraqi move amounted to political interference into the autonomy of the sports organizations.
The ban was provisionally lifted after FIFA receiving a letter from an Iraqi Cabinet official saying the Iraqi soccer federation had been “excluded” from the decree disbanding the Olympic Committee and other sports bodies, FIFA said in a statement.
That cleared the way for Iraq to play Australia on Sunday in the qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Cup. But FIFA said the ban could be re-imposed if Iraqi authorities do not “fully answer” its concerns about the government’s “attempts to control” the Iraqi sports federations and its national Olympic Committee.
