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2B Daily News – Friday, September 7, 2012 TENNIS | U.S. OPEN Ferrer advances in thriller NEW YORK (AP) — David Ferrer needed a mid- match pedicure of sorts. He seemed bothered when his opponent got a mid-game medical timeout. He was down a break in the fifth set. In the end, though, the indefatigable Spaniard was barely better, as he usually is when matches go the distance. With his high-energy brand of leg-churning, ball- chasing tennis, the fourth-seeded Ferrer outlasted eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-7 (5), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in 4 hours, 31 minutes Thurs- day to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the second time. doing the splits while flipping up a lob. ''It was a really, really tough match,'' Ferrer said. ''Janko — he's an amazing player ... and he also deserves to win today.'' Until now, Tipsarevic might have been best known not for his skills with a racket but rather for the large tattoos in Japanese lettering on his arms. The one on the left borrows a line from Fyodor Dos- toyevsky's ''The Idiot'': ''Beauty will save the world.'' game, Tipsarevic slammed to the ground while chasing a drop shot and stayed down for a few moments. Tipsarevic later had his right thigh taped up. Ferrer trailed 4-1 in the last set, but in the next Ferrer, also a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows in 2007, has won four consecutive five-setters and is 17-9 overall. When the match ended on Tipsarevic's backhand into the net, Ferrer raised his arms, then knelt near the baseline. The weary foes met at the net for a hug. ''I don't have words,'' said Ferrer, who reached the semifinals at the French Open in June. ''It was a very emotional match.'' Might have been the best of these two weeks so Djokovic or 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro for a spot in Sunday's final. Djokovic and del Potro were scheduled to play the last men's quarterfinal Thursday night. far, filled with twists and turns and plenty of theater. Ferrer next will play defending champion Novak Olympic champion Andy Murray and 2010 Wim- bledon runner-up Tomas Berdych — who eliminat- ed 17-time major champion Roger Federer in four sets — earned their semifinal berths Wednesday. Ferrer is the only man left who has never reached a Grand Slam final. He had various issues Thursday, including a dis- The tennis highlight for Tipsarevic to this point probably was joining Djokovic to help Serbia win the 2010 Davis Cup title. After ending that season ranked 49th, Tipsarevic jumped into the top 10 in 2011. He entered Thursday's match only 4-22 against men ranked in the ATP's top five, but one of those previous victories came against Ferrer. Not this time. Ferrer broke Tipsarevic to go ahead 5-3 in the fourth, then served it out at love. At the changeover before the final set, it was Tipsarevic's turn for treatment on both of his feet. Tipsarevic saved break points in the fifth set's opening game, then went ahead 2-0 by breaking Ferrer with a vol- ley winner and eventually made it 4-1. On the last point of the sixth game, though, Tipsarevic's left foot gave out from under him as he tried to chase Ferrer's drop shot. Tipsarevic landed on his left hip with a frightening thud; up in the stands, his wife covered her mouth with her hands. Ferrer walked up to the net to check on Tipsarevic, who gave him a thumb's up then limped to the sideline and gathered himself. In the very next game, Ferrer broke to close to 4-3. One hold of serve later, it was even. Facing two break points at 4-4, 15-40 in the fifth set — if Ferrer converted one of those chances, he would have served for the victory — Tipsarevic asked for a medical timeout after grabbing his upper right leg in the middle of a point. pute over a line call early in the fifth, and a bother- some toe on his right foot that a trainer worked on in the third — removing Ferrer's sneaker and sock and using a pair of nail clippers to help fix things. At another changeover, Ferrer gestured wildly while exhorting himself between bites of a banana. The 28-year-old Tipsarevic was playing in only his second quarterfinal in 35 career Grand Slam tournaments. He reached that round in New York a year ago, too, but stopped playing because of a left leg injury while trailing his Davis Cup teammate and good pal Djokovic. On Thursday, he hit one shot by thrusting his racket around his back and closed another point by So smack-dab in the midst of that very crucial game, a trainer came out to assess Tipsarevic's injury, then taped up the thigh. Play resumed, and Ferrer lost four points in a row. Tipsarevic sprinted forward to hit a volley winner, erasing the first break point, then took care of the second with a ser- vice winner and wound up holding to lead 5-4. When Ferrer's volley winner made it 5-all soon thereafter, he yelled ''Vamos!'' in Tipsarevic's direction. Two games later, as the concluding tiebreaker was about to begin, fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium rose to salute both players with a standing ovation. Ten minutes later, Ferrer was the one celebrating. RAIDERS (Continued from page 1B) MCT file photo Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore (17) catches a 61-yard touchdown pass. 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) As roommates during training camp last year, the two learned more about each other and the similar obstacles they had to overcome on sep- arate paths to NFL star- dom. Bowman, entering just his second season as a starter, lost his father, Hilliard, to a blood clot and his school coach and mentor, Nick Lynch, to a car accident at Penn State. Willis' younger brother, Detric, drowned at age 17 when Willis was at Mississippi. ''Me and Pat, we are very, very close,'' Bow- man said. ''We think of ourselves as one of the best and we have to keep going out there and proving it every single Sunday.'' Willis and Bowman both credit Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Single- tary — fired as 49ers coach after the second- to-last game in 2010 before Jim Harbaugh took over in January 2011 — for guidance early in their careers. The ''hard-nosed'' coach instilled a strong work ethic in both, always preaching, ''You're never good enough,'' Bowman said. proven powerful as they've evolved into one of the league's best units. And with Ray Lewis and many Baltimore Ravens veterans in the twilight of their careers, Willis and Co. are already drawing compar- isons to that vaunted linebacker group. San Francisco defense coordinator Vic Fangio believes the next step for his linebackers is to show the same poise and polish for more than one season. While he heaps high praise on his defen- sive leaders, he's not ready to anoint the Nin- ers linebackers the new NFL standard, especially That philosophy has given his history. Fangio was the line- work today and hopeful- ly he'll continue to improve as the week goes on.'' With Moore working back from his injury and Jacoby Ford still side- lined by a sprained left foot, the Raiders needed help at receiver for the opener against San Diego next Monday. That's why they brought Hagan back for a second stint with the team, adding a veteran presence to a young group. Hagan had 11 catches for 114 yards in six games for Oakland last season. He was cut midway through the sea- son and spent the rest of 2011 and this year's training camp with Buf- falo before being cut last week. Hagan spent two ''I get asked a lot, how backers coach for the ''Dome Patrol'' in New Orleans from 1986-1994. Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson along with Sam Mills, Vaughan Johnson and Pat Swilling head- lined that Saints squad. The foursome com- bined for 18 Pro Bowls over seven seasons. In 1992, all four made the Pro Bowl. WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB x-Minnesota 22 4 .846 — x-Los Angeles 19 9 .679 4 x-San Antonio 17 9 .654 5 Seattle Phoenix Tulsa x-Connecticut 20 7 .741 — x-Indiana Atlanta New York Chicago 11 14 .440 10.5 6 20 .231 16 6 20 .231 16 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB 17 8 .680 2 14 13 .519 6 11 16 .407 9 10 16 .385 9.5 Washington 5 22 .185 15 x-clinched playoff spot ------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday's results Atlanta 71, Indiana 64 New York 87, Phoenix 59 Thursday's result Tulsa at Seattle, late Today's games Phoenix at Connecticut, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Washington, 4 p.m. Chicago at New York, 4:30 p.m. Atlanta at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Indiana at San Antonio, 5 p.m. do they compare to the four guys we had in New Orleans?'' Fangio said. ''Those four guys started for us in New Orleans for seven straight years together. Hopefully, we can have a run like that here and once we start doing that, two, three, four years, maybe I'll have a better answer to that question.'' MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA San Jose 16 6 5 53 56 33 R. Salt Lake14 11 4 46 38 33 Seattle 12 6 8 44 41 27 Los Angeles13 11 4 43 48 40 Vancouver 10 11 7 37 29 37 FC Dallas 8 12 9 33 34 38 Colorado 9 17 2 29 36 41 Chivas USA 7 11 7 28 20 39 Portland 7 14 6 27 27 46 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Sport. K.C. 15 7 5 50 34 24 New York 13 7 7 46 46 39 Houston 12 7 9 45 40 33 Chicago 13 8 5 44 35 31 Columbus 12 9 6 42 33 32 D.C. 12 10 5 41 43 38 Montreal 12 14 3 39 43 46 N. England 7 14 7 28 35 38 Philadelphia 7 13 5 26 25 30 Toronto FC 5 16 6 21 30 48 West Division Texas A's Clemens readies for start against son SUGAR LAND, Texas (AP) — Roger Clemens still insists he has no plans to pitch for the Houston Astros this season. The 50-year-old Clemens is preparing for his second start with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League today. He will throw to his oldest son, Koby, when he starts against the Long Island Ducks. The pair met with reporters Thursday, and the seven- time Cy Young Award winner again was questioned about the possibility of a return to the majors this season. ''I don't think I could make an impact,'' Clemens said when asked about pitching for the last-place Astros. ''I think it would be fun for a lot of people, but it would take a lot of work to do and to perform the way I would want to perform. My mind says yes. My body says no.'' The Astros have two homestands remaining. They face two teams that are out of contention next week in the Cubs and Phillies. The last homestand beginning Sept. 21 features Pittsburgh and St. Louis, both in the NL wild-card hunt. Houston has said it would be open to the idea of bring- ing back Clemens. The Astros sent a scout to watch his first outing for the Skeeters and plan to do so again Friday. ''That's fantastic, but I don't think I'm close to doing that,'' Clemens said. ''If my body felt better and my shoul- der felt better, and I rebounded quicker, it would be some- thing I would think about doing, even go to spring training and do it for fun.'' Clemens also was noncommittal about playing past today for the Skeeters, but he left open the possibility of pitching elsewhere in the future. ''If this situation arises again, or if there is a new ballpark somewhere else around town, and we have a chance to make it exciting and fun, and if I feel like I can get out of bed, I might do it,'' he said. The Rocket tossed 3 1-3 scoreless innings in his first start for the Skeeters last month. He last pitched in the majors for the New York Yankees in 2007. In June, Clemens was acquitted of charges he lied to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. For now, he's excited about playing with his son on Fri- day. The two were teammates in 2006 when the elder Clemens was making his comeback with the Astros and pitched a game for Class-A Lexington. This one is different, though, because Koby played third base in that game. Roger Clemens beamed as his son talked about catching him, and raved about his 25-year-old boy. ''I'm glad he's here,'' the elder Clemens said. ''This is going to be fun not only for my family, but everybody in the local area for this team. I'm glad the kid's here. He's a pro at what he does and we're going to have some fun with it. It will be business as usual.'' The Blue Jays released Koby Clemens, who has never advanced past the Triple-A level, early so he could sign with the Skeeters and play with his father. weeks in Oakland last season with Palmer before being released, giving the two some familiarity. Most every- thing else about the offense is different under new coordinator Greg Knapp. ''I definitely expect myself to learn the whole playbook,'' Hagan said. ''Obviously this is what I do, this is my job, this is my profession. If I got to learn it in three days that's fine with me. It's definitely going to be a cram session. There may be a few things that I may not memorize at the right time but I know I just gotta put that time in, and hopefully come Monday night I'll just be able to do what I'm sup- posed to do and be where I'm supposed to be.'' Hagan's 109 career catches are more than any other current Raiders receiver has. He MLB American League WL Pct GB 81 55 .596 — 76 60 .559 5 Angels 74 63 .540 7.5 Seattle 67 71 .486 15 East Division WL Pct GB Baltimore 77 60 .562 — New York 77 60 .562 — Tampa Bay 75 62 .547 2 Boston 63 75 .457 14.5 Toronto 61 75 .449 15.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 74 62 .544 — Detroit 73 63 .537 1 Kansas City61 75 .449 13 Cleveland 58 79 .423 16.5 Minnesota 56 81 .409 18.5 ------------------------------------------------------- Thursday's results Baltimore 10, N.Y.Yankees 6 Texas at Kansas City, late Today's Games N.Y.Yankees (P.Hughes 13-12) at Balti- more (W.Chen 12-8), 4:05 p.m. Texas (D.Holland 10-6) at Tampa Bay (Hellickson 8-10), 4:10 p.m. Toronto (H.Alvarez 7-12) at Boston (Doubront 10-7), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (J.Gomez 5-7) at Minnesota (Hendriks 0-7), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Mendoza 7-9) at Chicago White Sox (Liriano 5-11), 5:10 p.m. Detroit (Scherzer 15-6) at L.A. Angels (E.Santana 8-11), 7:05 p.m. Oakland (Griffin 4-0) at Seattle (F.Her- nandez 13-6), 7:10 p.m. Saturday's games Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, 1:05 p.m. N.Y.Yankees at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Cleveland at Minnesota, 4:10 p.m. Texas at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Toronto at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Detroit at L.A. Angels, 6:05 p.m. Oakland at Seattle, 6:10 p.m. West Division has played parts of six seasons in the NFL, also spending time with the New York Giants and Miami. er gave undrafted rookie Rod Streater a chance to shine in the preseason and he delivered with 18 catches for 165 yards. That production was even more noteworthy considering Streater had just 19 catches during his senior season at Temple, which led to him not being picked in the NFL draft. Now he is being counted on to be a key contributor to the Oak- land offense as a rookie. ''It's pretty amazing from going undrafted to getting here,'' he said. ''But, in the end, I still have to produce, contin- ue to do my job, and continue to compete at a high level. I don't want it to get to me and take my performance down.'' The injuries at receiv- MLB National League WL Pct GB GIANTS 77 60 .562 — Dodgers 73 65 .529 4.5 Arizona 68 70 .493 9.5 San Diego 64 74 .464 13.5 Colorado 56 80 .412 20.5 East Division WL Pct GB Washington 85 52 .620 — Atlanta 78 60 .565 7.5 Phillies 66 71 .482 19 New York 65 72 .474 20 Miami Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 83 55 .601 — St. Louis 74 63 .540 8.5 Pittsburgh 72 64 .529 10 Milwaukee 67 70 .489 15.5 Chicago 51 86 .372 31.5 Houston 42 95 .307 40.5 ------------------------------------------------------- Thursday's results Atlanta 1, Colorado 0 Miami 6, Milwaukee 2 Washington 9, Chicago Cubs 2 Today's games Chicago Cubs (T.Wood 4-11) at Pitts- burgh (A.J.Burnett 15-5), 4:05 p.m. Colorado (Francis 5-4) at Philadelphia (Cl.Lee 4-7), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Ja.Turner 0-2) at Washington (Strasburg 15-6), 4:05 p.m. Atlanta (Maholm 11-9) at N.Y. Mets (Niese 10-8), 4:10 p.m. Houston (Harrell 10-9) at Cincinnati (H.Bailey 10-9), 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee (Gallardo 14-8) at St. Louis (Lohse 14-2), 5:15 p.m. Arizona (Skaggs 1-1) at San Diego (Cashner 3-3), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Beckett 1-1) at San Fran- cisco (Lincecum 8-14), 7:15 p.m. Saturday's games Miami at Washington, 10:05 a.m. Atlanta at N.Y. Mets, 1:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Colorado at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Houston at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m. Milwaukee at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m. Arizona at San Diego, 5:35 p.m. 61 77 .442 24.5