MADRID, Spain - Andre Agassi was greeted by a banner before his quarterfinal match at the Madrid Masters saying: "Agassi, thanks for keeping on playing. Spain loves u!!!"
Then he assured fans of having at least one more chance to watch him, rallying from a set behind and fighting off six break points early in the second set Friday night to knock out the last Spaniard in the field.
Agassi, seeded second, defeated Tommy Robredo 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2, and will play No.3 Marat Safin in today's semifinals. Safin beat Luis Horna 6-4, 6-4.
Unseeded Ivan Ljubicic and David Nalbandian meet in the other semifinal. Ljubicic edged No.7 Joachim Johansson in three tiebreakers, while No.4 Nalbandian beat American Taylor Dent in straight sets.
Agassi is playing in his first tournament since reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals Sept.9, when he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in five sets.
SWISSCOM CHALLENGE: Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova beat former winner Venus Williams 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals in Zurich, Switzerland, extending her winning streak to 11 matches. Fourth-seeded Sharapova will continue her quest to win three successive titles when she meets No.3 Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian semifinal today.
WITHDREW: Andy Roddick pulled out of next week's Stockholm Open because of a knee injury, organizers said.
SPLIT: Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt called off their wedding, according to her Web site.
BOXING: Boxer charged in killing
A boxer who fights under the nickname "The Harlem Hammer" pleaded not guilty to charges he used a hammer to kill a freelance sportswriter and then torched his Hollywood apartment. James Butler, 31, was charged with murder and arson following his Wednesday arrest and was being held on $1.25-million bail, said Sandi Gibbons, the district attorney's spokeswoman. Sam Kellerman, 29, was found dead Sunday at his apartment. His car was missing. Authorities believe he was killed on Oct.12, according to a district attorney's statement. Kellerman was the younger brother of Max Kellerman, host of Fox Sports Net's boxing program I, Max.
WBO: Joe Calzaghe successfully defended his super-middleweight title for the 15th time, recovering from a fourth-round knockdown to win a unanimous decision over Egypt's Kabary Salem in Edinburgh, Scotland. Calzaghe (38-0) set a British record for consecutive world title defenses, moving ahead of Lennox Lewis, Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and Chris Eubank. The judges scored it 117-109, 118-107 and 116-109.
COLLEGES: Gators have perfect day
Florida's Whitney Benik, Lolita Frangulyan, Alex Liles of Largo and Nina Suvak each won two matches and advanced to the round of 16 at the Wilson/ITA South Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Liles and Suvak won their first-round doubles match.
WOMEN'S GOLF: Florida was fourth with a first-round 296 at the Lady Paladin Invitational in Greenville, S.C. The Gators are nine strokes behind leader Furman.
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Neither host Tampa nor Nova Southeastern was able to score as the teams played to a draw.
VOLLEYBALL: Jane Collymore had a match-high 24 kills as Florida defeated host Tennessee 26-30, 34-32, 30-19, 30-21. ... Saint Leo beat Clearwater Christian 31-29, 32-30, 24-30, 30-21. ... Tampa downed host Massachusetts-Lowell 30-8, 30-19, 30-25.
WINTER SPORTS: U.S. pair wins 2nd title
Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto won their second straight ice dancing competition at Skate America with an original dance to New York, New York that brought the Pittsburgh crowd to its feet. The pair finished the original dance competition with a score of 63.40, and an overall total of 107.11. Galit Shait and Sergei Sakhnovski of Israel were second, scoring 60.48 in the original dance and 101.46 overall. In the women's short program, Miki Ando of Japan skated first and maintained the lead the entire evening.
SKIING: Blood tests for human growth hormone are being introduced this season in alpine and freestyle as well as snowboarding and ski jumping, the international federation said. Hgh works like an anabolic steroid by building muscle mass and helping athletes recover faster from training.
SPEEDSKATING: Olympic bronze medalist Jennifer Rodriguez won the 500- and 1,000-meter races at the U.S. Long Track Team competition in West Allis, Wis. In the 500, Rodriguez won in 39.19 seconds to beat Chris Witty, who finished in 40.01. Rodriguez skated to an easy victory in the 1,000 (1:17.60), nearly three seconds faster than Amy Sannes. Olympian Joey Cheek won the men's 500 in 35.90, one-tenth of a second faster than Tucker Fredricks.
ET CETERA
CYCLING: An appeals court in Paris ordered that a doping investigation of Cofidis cyclist Cedric Vasseur be dropped, judicial officials said. Vasseur had been accused by a former Cofidis teammate, Philippe Gaumont, of taking the performance-enhancing substance EPO during the 2003 Tour de France. This summer investigating officers were questioned over the falsification of Vasseur's signature on two of four statements he allegedly made while in custody in January.
GYMNASTICS: George Beckstead, a U.S. judge involved in the scoring mistake that may have helped Paul Hamm win the all-around gold medal at the Athens Olympics, was defeated in his bid for re-election to the men's technical committee of the international federation.
HORSES: Recent ultrasound tests on Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones showed significant cartilage loss in his left front ankle that would have made it impossible for him to resume training. The tests were run at the request of owners Roy and Pat Chapman, who wanted the option of unretiring the colt and racing him in 2005.
