ROME - Roger Federer's keys to success after a second-round loss in the Italian Open: more practice, more matches, less panic.
"People are looking at this as too dramatic," top-ranked Federer said after he was ousted by unseeded Albert Costa 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday. "It's not a disaster because I knew how tough the clay-court season is for me."
With the three top-seeded players out in the first three days in Rome, the clay-court competition seems as unpredictable as ever just weeks before the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament played on the surface.
Federer joined No. 2 Andy Roddick and No. 3 Rainer Schuettler in making an early exit. And more seeded players left in the second round. Last year's French Open runnerup, No. 14 Martin Verkerk, lost to Luis Horna 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez fell 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to Nikolay Davydenko.
GERMAN OPEN: Venus Williams extended her win streak to 12 matches, beating Eleni Daniilidou 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round in Berlin. Kim Clijsters also advanced, overcoming a rocky comeback from a left wrist injury to get past qualifier Marta Marrero 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
HORSES: Relaxing day for Smarty
Smarty Jones took it easy on his first run at home as a Kentucky Derby winner. The colt took a leisurely 15-minute jog on his home turf at Philadelphia Park, but didn't break into a gallop. Trainer John Servis said Smarty Jones won't be worked hard until he leaves next week for the Preakness at Pimlico. Also, Cheiron, trained by Kristin Mulhall, was the latest Preakness defection, leaving six horses set to take on Smarty Jones on May 15. On Monday, Limehouse, fourth in the Derby, was ruled out by owner Cot Campbell.
SOCCER: Trio named to U.S. Hall
Michelle Akers, Paul Caligiuri and Eric Wynalda were chosen for induction into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame. The trio, who have scored some of the most memorable goals in U.S. history, will be inducted at Oneonta, N.Y., on Oct. 9. Akers, the third woman inducted into the Hall, had both goals for the victorious Americans in the 1991 Women's World Cup. Caligiuri put the United States into the men's World Cup for the first time in 40 years when he scored on a 35-yard volley against Trinidad and Tobago in 1989. Wynalda had a highlight-reel free kick against Switzerland in the 1994 World Cup.
MARADONA HOSPITALIZED: Diego Maradona was back in intensive care, days after he abruptly ended almost two weeks of treatment for heart and lung problems. Maradona was in stable condition after returning to the hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, because of an eating problem, according to a statement by the medical team treating him.
ET CETERA
BOXING: An attorney for Wladimir Klitschko asked for a federal investigation of the heavyweight's loss last month to Lamon Brewster. Judd Burstein claimed in a letter to the U.S. Attorney's office in Las Vegas that Klitschko's blood and urine samples taken after the fight were missing and said it was suspicious the odds favoring Klitschko dropped dramatically before the fight. Klitschko was winning the April 10 fight handily before Brewster knocked him out in the fifth round. He later said he felt drugged after the opening round.
FISHING: Plantation's Mitch Howell caught and released a tarpon, bonefish and permit, augmenting earlier catches to take grand champion honors at the three-day Inshore Championship Tournament in Islamorada.
SAILING: Sarah and Sally Kettle became the first mother-daughter team to cross the Atlantic in a row boat. The British pair set off in a 23-foot plywood boat, the Calderdale, from the Canary Islands on Jan. 20, along with 13 other boats racing in the Ocean Rowing Society's Atlantic Rowing Regatta. Sarah, 45, and Sally, 27, arrived late Tuesday night in Barbados after the 2,907-mile journey.
