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2B – Daily News – Friday, September 10, 2010 Nadal reaches semifinals OAKLAND (5-11) at TENNESSEE (8-8) Sunday, 10 a.m., CBS OPENING LINE — Titans by 7 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Oakland 8-8; Tennessee 6-10 SERIES RECORD — Raiders lead 27-18 LAST MEETING — Titans beat Raiders 13-9, Oct. 28, 2007 PASS (29) Raiders OFFENSE — OVERALL (31), RUSH (21), Raiders DEFENSE — OVERALL (26), RUSH (29), PASS (7) Titans OFFENSE — OVERALL (12), RUSH (2), PASS (23) Titans DEFENSE — OVERALL (28), RUSH (10t), PASS (31) MCT photo Rafael Nadal hits a forehand,Thursday, during his U.S. Open quarterfinal match. NEW YORK (AP) — After one early miss, Rafael Nadal slapped himself on the right thigh. After anoth- er, he put his hands on his hips and stared at the spot where his shot went awry. It did not take long for Nadal to put a slightly slow start behind him and move one step closer to the only Grand Slam title he hasn’t won. The top-seeded Nadal figured out how to handle the wind that’s plagued the tournament, got his serve in gear after being broken for the only time in five match- es, and beat No. 8 Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 Thursday night in the first all-Spanish quarterfinal in U.S. Open history. Nadal’s streak of 62 con- secutive holds of serve ended in Thursday’s third game, when he put a fore- hand in the net, allowing Verdasco to break him at love to go ahead 2-1. Nadal wouldn’t face another break point the rest of the match, though, and won the last 13 points he served in the sec- ond set. In the very early going, Verdasco played the brand of point-extending, oppo- nent-dispiriting defense that Nadal is so well-known for. But Nadal broke back to get to 4-all, thanks to Verdasco’s two double-faults in a row, and suddenly was seeming more and more comfortable. Nadal broke Verdasco for a second time in the last game of the opening set thanks to a volley winner at the end of a 20-stroke exchange. By match’s end, Nadal was pulling out all the tricks, even hitting one half- volley while spinning around, putting the racket on the ball with his back to the net — sort of like a no-look pass in basketball. And now Nadal is head- ed to a third consecutive semifinal at Flushing Mead- ows. Nadal never has reached a final in New York, losing in the semifinals to Andy Murray in 2008, and to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro in 2009. ‘‘Right now, for me, it’s a very, very nice feeling to be FOOTBALL Week 2 Schedule Today’s games Orland at Corning, 7:30 p.m. Red Bluff at Shasta, 7:30 p.m. Weed at Los Molinos, 7:30 p.m. Burney at University Prep, 7:30 p.m. Central Valley at Henley, 7 p.m. Chester at Fall River, 7:30 p.m. Chico at Las Plumas, 7:30 p.m. Clear Lake at Durham, 7:30 p.m. Enterprise at West Valley, 7:30 p.m. Etna at Chiloquin, 7 p.m. Gridley at Pleasant Valley, 7:30 p.m. Hidden Valley at Mt. Shasta, 7:30 p.m. Kelseyville at Hamilton, 7:30 p.m. Lakeview at Modoc, 7:30 p.m. Lindhurst at Live Oak, 7:30 p.m. Marysville at Wheatland, 7:30 p.m. Maxwell at Colusa, 7:30 p.m. Oroville at Anderson, 7:30 p.m. Rio Vista at Esparto, 7:30 p.m. River Valley at Foothill, 7:30 p.m. Williams at Biggs, 7:30 p.m. Winters at Willows, 7:30 p.m. Yreka at Mazama, 7 p.m. Today’s 8-man games Elk Creek at Big Valley, 6 p.m. Happy Camp at Grennville, 7 p.m. Hayfork at Princeton, 4 p.m. Saturday’s games Paradise at Lowell, 2 p.m. Quincy at North Tahoe, 1 p.m. Saturday’s 8-man games Dunsmuir at Loyalton, 1 p.m. Liberty Christian at Herlong, 1 p.m. Wednesday’s late result Oakland 4, Seattle 3 in (the) semifinals for the third time in a row for one of the most important tourna- ments in the world,’’ Nadal said. ‘‘For me, probably right now, the most impor- tant.’’ On Saturday, Nadal — trying to complete a career Grand Slam at age 24 by earning a U.S. Open trophy to put alongside the eight total he owns from the French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open — will face 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia for a spot in the final. No. 2 Roger Federer will face No. 3 Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s other semifi- nal; they won their quarterfi- nals Wednesday. Federer owns a record 16 Grand Slam titles, including five at the U.S. Open, and has faced Nadal in finals at the other three major tourna- ments. Nadal has won his last 19 Grand Slam matches, including titles in 2010 at the French Open and Wim- bledon. Youzhny’s only previous trip to the semifinals at any Grand Slam tournament came at the 2006 U.S. Open, and he made it there by upsetting Nadal in the quar- terfinals. ‘‘It’s another time, and I’m, like, another player,’’ Youzhny said. ‘‘I cannot say I am (a) better player now, but it’s another time and other opponent, so every- thing can happen.’’ He hit fewer aces and fewer winners, needed treat- ment on his right foot in the fifth set — and still man- aged to come back and beat No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in four hours earlier Thursday. ‘‘Maybe I was just a bit luckier than him,’’ Youzhny said. As was the case for many matches in recent days, the wind was swirling inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Dur- ing Nadal’s 11th victory in 11 career matchups against MLB West Division Texas A’s American League WL Pct GB 77 63 .550 — 69 70 .496 7.5 Angels 67 73 .479 10 Seattle 55 85 .393 22 East Division WL Pct GB New York 87 53 .621 — Tampa Bay 84 55 .604 2.5 Boston 78 62 .557 9 Toronto 72 68 .514 15 Baltimore 53 87 .379 34 Central Division WL Pct GB Minnesota 83 57 .593 — Chicago 77 63 .550 6 Detroit 71 70 .504 12.5 Kansas City 57 82 .410 25.5 Cleveland 57 83 .407 26 ————————————————— Thursday’s results Detroit 6, Chicago 3 Texas 4, Toronto 2 Today’s games Boston (C.Buchholz 15-6) at Oakland (Cahill 15-6),7:05 p.m.,CSNC Baltimore (Millwood 3-15) at Detroit (Galarraga 4-5), 4:05 p.m. Minnesota (Pavano 16-10) at Cleveland (Carmona 11-14), 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay (J.Shields 13-12) at Toronto (Cecil 12-7), 4:07 p.m. New York (Vazquez 10-9) at Texas (C.Wilson 14-6), 5:05 p.m. Kansas City (Chen 9-7) at Chicago (Buehrle 12-10), 5:10 p.m. Seattle (Pauley 2-7) at Los Angeles (Jer.Weaver 11-11), 7:05 p.m. Davis Cup teammate Ver- dasco, it regularly topped 15 mph, with gusts reaching 25 mph, and the temperature — consistently in the 90s in Week 1 — dipped to 65 degrees. ‘‘Very difficult to play. Probably one of the more difficult days,’’ Nadal said. Neither player seemed pleased by the conditions, and Verdasco looked up at his guest box in the second game after hitting one of his six double-faults. In the next game, however, he played some terrific sliding, stretch- ing defense during a 20- stroke exchange he capped with a backhand passing winner to earn a break point. He converted that, but never got another chance to really rattle Nadal, who has won all 15 sets he’s played at this U.S. Open and won 76 of 77 games he’s served. The last time Nadal and Verdasco met at a Grand Slam tournament, in the 2009 Australian Open semi- finals, they set a tournament record by playing for 5 hours, 14 minutes. Thurs- day’s match lasted less than 2 1/2 hours, in part because Nadal played so cleanly, making only 16 unforced errors; Verdasco made 41. The outcome basically was settled in the sixth game of the second set, when Nadal broke to lead 4-2 with a delicate-as-can-be drop volley that Verdasco barely reached and couldn’t get in play. Nadal jumped and punched the air and had to know there was no longer any chance of the sort of upset Youzhny pulled off four years ago. Youzhny was unseeded at the 2006 U.S. Open, but he knocked off four seeded NFL Thursday’s result New Orleans 14, Minnesota 9 players, including Nadal in the quarterfinals, before los- ing to Andy Roddick in the semifinals. Wawrinka was only the second seeded player Youzhny has faced in the tournament this year; he beat No. 18 John Isner of the United States in the third round. Nothing seemed to rattle Youzhny on Thursday. He dealt with a deficit, a prob- lem with his right foot, and the wind that made it tough to control strokes — Wawrinka made 71 unforced errors, Youzhny 57. That helped Youzhny overcome Wawrinka’s advantages in aces (13-2) and winners (48-35). Both men won 154 points. Youzhny also never appeared to get rattled by all the noise going on near the court as Wawrinka was sup- ported exuberantly by his entourage. On pretty much every significant point won by Wawrinka, the black- clad, sunglasses-wearing bunch in his guest box would stand up, applaud, yell and trade fist bumps. The celebrations were led from the front row by Wawrinka’s coach, Peter Lundgren — who used to work with Federer and helped him win his first Wimbledon championship. Now everyone will be thinking past the semifinals in New York, and ahead to Sunday’s final, and the tan- talizing prospect of No. 1 Nadal vs. No. 2 Federer, with a championship on the line. First, of course, Federer must beat Djokovic, and Nadal must beat Youzhny. NCAA Thursday’s Top 25 result No.21 Auburn 17, Mississippi State 14 Today’s Top 25 game No.23 West Virginia at Marshall, 4 p.m., ESPN Today’s other televised game UTEP at Houston, 7:15 p.m., ESPN STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Teams opened American Football League against each other on Sept. 11, 1960, with then-Houston Oilers winning 37-22. This will be ninth time they’ve opened the season together. ... QB Jason Campbell makes Raiders debut after being traded from Washington on April 26. He threw for a career-high 3,618 yards and 20 touchdowns last year. ... Campbell is 6- 4 as a starter in September and has a 90.1 passer rating. ... Rookies LB Rolando McClain and DE Lamarr Houston make their NFL debuts. ... CB Nnamdi Asomugha is com- ing off a second straight Pro Bowl season. ... LB Trevor Scott tied for team lead with seven sacks in 2009. ... Titans coach Jeff Fisher is tied for second among active coaches with nine season-opening wins (he’s tied with Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick; Mike Shanahan has 12). ... Titans are 3-0 against Oakland at home on opening week- end dating back to Sept. 1, 1991. ... Titans have won five of past six at home. ... Chris Johnson leads NFL with 3,234 yards rushing since 2008. He is seeking 12th straight game rushing for 100 yards or more, putting him second to Barry Sanders’ mark of 14 straight in 1997. ... Titans rank third in NFL with 62 interceptions since 2007. SAN FRANCISCO (8-8) at SEATTLE (5-11) Sunday, 1:15 p.m., FOX OPENING LINE — Seahawks by 1 RECORD VS. SPREAD — 49ers 9-4-3; Seahawks 6- 10 SERIES RECORD — Seahawks lead 12-10 LAST MEETING — Seahawks beat 49ers 20-17, Dec. 6, 2009 PASS (22) 49ERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH (25), 49ERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (15), RUSH (6), PASS (21) SEAHAWKS OFFENSE — OVERALL (21), RUSH (26), PASS (15) SEAHAWKS DEFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (15), PASS (30) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — San Francisco MLB West Division National League WL Pct GB Padres 79 59 .572 — GIANTS 78 62 .557 2 Colorado 76 64 .543 4 Dodgers 69 72 .489 11.5 Arizona 57 83 .407 23 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia 81 60 .574 — Atlanta 80 61 .567 1 Florida 70 69 .504 10 New York 69 71 .493 11.5 Washington 60 80 .429 20.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 79 61 .564 — St. Louis 73 65 .529 5 Houston 67 73 .479 12 Milwaukee 65 74 .468 13.5 Chicago 60 80 .429 19 Pittsburgh 47 92 .338 31.5 ————————————————— Thursday’s results San Francisco at San Diego, late Colorado 6, Cincinnati 5 Houston 3, Los Angeles 2 St. Louis 11, Atlanta 4 Today’s games San Francisco (J.Sanchez 10-8) at S.D.(Richard 12-6),7:05 p.m.,CSNB Florida (Sanabia 3-2) at Washington (Lannan 7-6), 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Halladay 17-10) at New York (Mejia 0-3), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Maholm 7-14) at Cincinnati (H.Bailey 3-3), 4:10 p.m. St. Louis (C.Carpenter 15-5) at Atlanta (Minor 3-0), 4:35 p.m. Los Angeles (Kuroda 10-12) at Houston (Happ 6-2), 5:05 p.m. Chicago (Zambrano 7-6) at Milwaukee (Bush 7-11), 5:10 p.m., WGN Arizona (J.Saunders 2-4) at Colo.(De La Rosa 6-4), 6:10 p.m., MLBN Wednesday’s late result San Diego 4, Los Angeles 0 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 13 5 5 44 33 17 Salt Lake 12 4 7 43 37 16 FC Dallas 10 2 10 40 29 17 Colorado 9 6 7 34 28 21 QUAKES 97 5 32 24 23 Seattle EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Columbus 13 5 5 44 32 20 New York 11 8 4 37 27 24 Toronto FC 7 9 7 28 22 26 Kansas City 7 9 6 27 22 24 Chicago 6 7 8 26 28 29 New England 7 12 3 24 24 36 Philadelphia 5 11 6 21 26 38 D.C. 4 16 3 15 15 37 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. ————————————————— Thursday’s result Real Salt Lake at Seattle FC, late Today’s game New England at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. U.S. OPEN Thursday At The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center New York Purse: $22.7 million (Grand Slam) Surface: Hard-Outdoor Men Singles Quarterfinals Mikhail Youzhny (12), Russia, def. Stanis- las Wawrinka (25), Switzerland, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Fernando Verdasco (8), Spain, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. begins 2010 as favorite in NFC West. ... 49ers 2-6 on road in 2009 and 4-9 since Mike Singletary took over as coach. ... Three new starters on offensive line, including draft picks Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati. ... RB Frank Gore coming off four straight 1,000 yards seasons, longest streak in franchise history. ... Since 2006, Gore averaging nearly 150 yards rushing per game against Seattle. ... TE Vernon Davis tied NFL record among tight ends with 13 TD catches in 2009. ... RB Brian Westbrook expected to play after spending eight seasons with Philadelphia. Was limited to eight games last year after suffering two con- cussions and an ankle injury. ... DT Justin Smith has start- ed 139 consecutive games. ... LB Patrick Willis led NFL with 173 tackles in 2009, including 121 solos. ... 49ers offensive line coach Mike Solari held same position with Seattle in 2008-09. ... Rookie RT Anthony Davis is just 20 years old, turns 21 next month. ... First NFL game for new Seattle coach Pete Carroll since end of 1999 season while with New England. ... Of the current 53-man roster only 26 were with Seattle a year ago. ... LB Lofa Tatupu will start after missing final 10 games of 2009 with a torn pectoral. Tatupu was Seattle’s leading tackler in 2008. ... WR Mike Williams to start for Seattle after being out of the NFL the past two seasons. ... RB Justin Forsett to get the start, but Carroll says trio of Forsett, Leon Washington and Julius Jones will see action. ... LT Chester Pitts, coming off microfracture knee surgery, likely to start with rookie Rus- sell Okung (ankle) out. ... QB Matt Hasselbeck threw for 3,029 yards and completed 60 percent of passes in 2009, but threw 17 TDs with 17 interceptions. ... Seattle was 26th in the NFL in turnover margin in 2009. 9 9 5 32 26 29 Houston 6 12 5 23 28 38 Chivas USA 6 12 4 22 23 29 GOLDEN Golden League Playoffs First Round (Best-of-5) Chico 1, Calgary 0 Game 1:Chico 5, Calgary 1 Friday: 7:05 p.m. Saturday: at Calgary, 4:05 p.m. Sunday: at Calgary, 12:35 p.m. Monday: at Calgary, 6:05 p.m. Maui 1, Orange County 0 Game 1:Maui 4, Orange County 1 Thursday: at Maui, late Friday: at Orange County, 7:05 p.m. Saturday: at Orange County, 7:05 p.m. Sunday: at Orange County, 5:05 p.m. PGA BMW Championship At Cog Hill Golf and Country Club, Dubsdread Course — Noon, TGC Lemont, Ill. Purse: $7.5 million Yardage: 7,616;Par: 71 (35-36) First Round Leaders Matt Kuchar Ryan Moore Ian Poulter 33-31 — 64 -7 36-29 — 65 -6 34-32 — 66 -5 Retief Goosen 33-34 — 67 -4 Charlie Wi Justin Rose Luke Donald 34-33 — 67 -4 34-34 — 68 -3 35-33 — 68 -3 Dustin Johnson 33-35 — 68 -3 Brian Gay Rory Sabbatini 38-31 — 69 -2 Paul Casey 34-34 — 68 -3 35-34 — 69 -2