MADRID, Spain - Marat Safin played his best tennis in quite some time, beating Andre Agassi 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) Saturday to advance to the final of the Madrid Masters.
The third-seeded Russian will face Argentina's David Nalbandian, who defeated Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
SWISSCOM OPEN: Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova advanced to the final in Zurich, Switzerland, defeating fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals. In today's final Sharapova will face Australia's Alicia Molik, a semifinal winner against No. 10 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. Molik, the Olympic bronze medalist, won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
HORSES: Sheik implicated by HBO
Sheik Mohammed, one of the richest horse buyers in Kentucky and the world, has been implicated in the slave trade of child camel jockeys on a report aired this week on HBO's Real Sports. The show includes footage of appalling living conditions at camel-training camps and alleges that male camel jockeys - some as young as 3 - are kidnapped or sold into slavery, starved, beaten and raped. The report links the abuses to Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates.
SOCCER: Former Gator scores five
Former Gator Abby Wambach became the fourth player in U.S. women's national team history to score five goals in a game, leading the U.S. to a 5-0 win over Ireland in Houston, the seventh game of the "Fan Celebration Tour."
MLS PLAYOFFS: Avery John scored his first career goal in the 25th minute to help New England snap Columbus' 18-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 victory in the opening round. ... Earnie Stewart and Alecko Eskandarian scored in the second half, as D.C. United beat the MetroStars 2-0 in their first-round series.
COLLEGES: MSU star waits on NCAA
Mississippi State senior Lawrence Roberts is practicing with the Bulldogs while the NCAA completes an investigation into his workout with the Portland Trail Blazers before he decided not to enter the NBA draft, his mother said. Cynthia Robertssaid the Blazers were repaid for her son's expenses and the family voluntarily sent the NCAA all the financial records.
CROSS COUNTRY: UT won its third consecutive Sunshine State Conference women's championship in Melbourne. Senior DeeDee Haefling of Brandon finished second. Florida Southern won the men's title with UT in second.
SOCCER: Marquette handed the USF men their third straight loss, 1-0 at home. ... Nova Southeastern won its seventh straight game, 2-0 over host Tampa.
SWIMMING: UT men beat host Florida Southern 130-79 while the UT women won 117-93.
TENNIS: Largo's Alex Liles rallied past Alabama's Ashley Bentley 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Wilson/ITA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
VOLLEYBALL: UT swept Bryant 3-0 in Providence, R.I., for its eighth straight win. ... Seminole's Kristin Mock had four blocks in Palm Beach Atlantic's win over host Faulkner.
ET CETERA
BOXING: Vivian Harris retained his WBA junior welterweight title, stopping Germany's Oktay Urkal in the 11th round in Berlin. ... Joseph Dorsey Jr., who won a 1957 fight against Louisiana's law banning interracial bouts, died at 69.
FIGURE SKATING: World champion pairs skater Tatiana Totmianina of Russia fell headfirst during the free skate at Skate America in Pittsburgh. She was taken to a nearby hospital, but her condition was unknown. ... Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov of Russia took first place in the pairs. Angela Nikodinov won the women's title with an overall score of 149.50.
SPEED SKATING: Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S. won the men's 500-meter sprint to take his second gold at the world short track championships in Beijing. ... Joey Cheek edged fellow Olympic medalist Casey FitzRandolph by two-hundredths of a second to win the 1,500-meter in the U.S. Long Track team competition in West Allis, Wis.
ROWING: Cindy Bishop won the Head of the Charles singles race in Cambridge, Mass., amid brisk wind on a shortened course.
SKIING: Anja Paerson won the season-opening World Cup giant slalom in Soelden, Austria with a time of 2 minutes, 25.21 seconds.
