Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic posted straight-set wins Friday to set up a semifinal meeting in the Rome Masters, and three-time champion Rafael Nadal advanced in the other half of the draw. Nadal cruised past eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco, 6-3, 6-3, improving to 8-0 against his fellow Spaniard. He will play 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who struggled past Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Federer overcame net-charging Mischa Zverev, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

The top-seeded USC men's tennis team defeated rival UCLA, 4-1, in a wild NCAA semifinal at Athens, Ga., and earned a chance to win its fourth consecutive national championship Tuesday. The Trojans (32-1) will meet third-seeded Virginia at 2 p.m. PDT in Athens. USC beat the Cavaliers in last year's final. Virginia defeated seventh-seeded Pepperdine to reach the championship match. Lightning and thunder interrupted action midway through the first sets of both semifinal matches, forcing them to move indoors to be played out on two courts apiece.

Novak Djokovic is here at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament and if that doesn't seem like a big deal, understand that the world's second-ranked player flew from Serbia Monday even though he left much of his heart and most of his energy in a raucous 20,000-seat arena in Belgrade. If it didn't get much notice, Djokovic led Serbia to a first-round Davis Cup win over the United States last weekend. Besides his on court duties, Djokovic played congenial host, having the players from both teams to dinner at a Belgrade restaurant owned by himself, where the silverware had his name engraved on it. And now Djokovic is the No. 2 seed in a draw that includes world No. 1 Roger Federer and the man many people still think of as No. 2, Rafael Nadal plus Australian Open finalist Andy Murray, who is the fourth seed.

Suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell , claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. The suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, "relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence and lies" in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Novak Djokovic will resume their budding rivalry in the Italian Open final at Rome on Sunday. Nadal overcame a stiff first-set challenge from Richard Gasquet before rolling to a 7-5, 6-1 win in the semifinals Saturday, and Djokovic was pushed to the limit in a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (2) victory over fourth-ranked Andy Murray , extending his unbeaten streak to 38 matches after 3 hours and 1 minute of grueling baseline rallies. Djokovic beat Nadal in title matches at Indian Wells and Miami this year, then also won in Madrid last weekend, his first victory over the Spaniard on clay.

The French Open begins this weekend, and the toast of tennis is not Rafael Nadal. The man who has owned the red clay at Roland Garros in Paris since he first stepped on it in 2005 is now owned by somebody else. Astonishingly, the favorite to win the men's singles title, second of the four majors of the year, is a Serb with a rock jaw, sharply angled face and a backhand and forehand that have hit every line from every angle for the last six months. Novak Djokovic has arrived.

Rafael Nadal finally managed to beat Novak Djokovic in a final, thrashing the top-ranked Serb, 6-3, 6-1, on Sunday to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the eighth consecutive year and end a run of seven straight defeats to his rival in title matches. Nadal was hardly troubled by Djokovic in this one and broke the Serb's serve five times in a one-sided affair on clay to win his 42nd straight match at Monte Carlo. It was his first title since last year's French Open and the 47th of his career.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Top-seeded Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray, 6-1, 7-6 (4), on Sunday to win his second consecutive Sony Ericsson Open. After a dominating first set, Djokovic needed a rally to capture the title. He trailed 4-3 in the second set, but forced a tiebreaker. Djokovic avenged when Murray defeated him in the 2009 final. Djokovic, who also won in 2007, is now only third player to win the tournament three times, joining Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Djokovic won despite Murray having fresher legs.

It was all about the wind Wednesday at the U.S. Open. Caroline Wozniacki had to make a mid-match hairstyle adjustment, going from ponytail to braid so she could see where the ball was sneaking off. Novak Djokovic waved his racket in the air after a shot he missed because the wind made the ball disappear from his sight. And yet when the day was done, it was the favorites who conquered the conditions and advanced. Especially Roger Federer. The five-time U.S. Open champion and the draw's second-seeded player blew away fifth-seeded Robin Soderling, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. And arriving at the men's semifinals to meet Federer once again is third-seeded Djokovic.

Tennis didn't get what it wanted for the U.S. Open men's final because of that one irrepressible and mystical figure who, sadly, is never wrong. His name is Father Time. Late in a fifth set of a semifinal Saturday, with day drifting to twilight, in a huge stadium filled with 23,771 people — most edging forward in their seats and gasping at the drama of the moment — Father Time tapped Roger Federer on the shoulder. He had two match points. Winning either would put him in a classic Sunday final against the young player who had replaced him as No. 1 in the world and who had won the first semifinal in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 walk in the park.

A person familiar with the decision has told the Associated Press that Miami's LeBron James will be announced Saturday as the NBA's most valuable player, the third time he has won the award in the past four seasons. James is expected to be presented with the trophy Sunday by Commissioner David Stern before Miami hosts Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Indiana. James will become the eighth player to win the award at least three times, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone.

John Isner is suddenly leaving a large footprint on the men's professional tennis circuit. The 26-year-old late bloomer has reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world this year (he's No. 11 this week). He briefly became the top-rated American in the world, defeated No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells and No. 3 Roger Federer in Davis Cup play, and has led the underdog U.S. to stunning upsets of Switzerland and France on red clay in away Davis Cup matches. He has also become an Olympic contender and maybe even a power broker.

Rafael Nadal finally managed to beat Novak Djokovic in a final, thrashing the top-ranked Serb, 6-3, 6-1, on Sunday to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the eighth consecutive year and end a run of seven straight defeats to his rival in title matches. Nadal was hardly troubled by Djokovic in this one and broke the Serb's serve five times in a one-sided affair on clay to win his 42nd straight match at Monte Carlo. It was his first title since last year's French Open and the 47th of his career.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Top-seeded Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray, 6-1, 7-6 (4), on Sunday to win his second consecutive Sony Ericsson Open. After a dominating first set, Djokovic needed a rally to capture the title. He trailed 4-3 in the second set, but forced a tiebreaker. Djokovic avenged when Murray defeated him in the 2009 final. Djokovic, who also won in 2007, is now only third player to win the tournament three times, joining Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Djokovic won despite Murray having fresher legs.

On the verge of victory, Roger Federer stopped playing when he thought a pivotal point had ended at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday at Key Biscayne, Fla. He mistook a fan's shout for a linesman's call, which cost him the game. Play continued for another 25 minutes before Federer finally closed out his opening match by beating 19-year-old American Ryan Harrison , 6-2, 7-6 (3). "I'd like to make it a bit more difficult for my opponent," Federer said. "I was just completely confused about the whole situation.

The declining career of Roger Federer appears to be a figment of the imagination of the media, especially in the wake of his straight-set victory in the final of Sunday's BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Federer handled the big serve of American John Isner with ease and won, 7-6 (7), 6-3. It was Isner's first Masters Series final; it was Federer's 19th Masters title. At 30, Federer has not won a Grand Slam event -- he holds the record with 16, generally granting him the claim as the best player of all time -- since the 2010 Australian Open.

It all caught up to Novak Djokovic on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open, all the extraordinary effort he had put in to leading his country, Serbia, over the United States in the Davis Cup 12 days ago, flying across nine time zones to get to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and trying to play to his seeding, as the second-ranked player at the BNP Paribas Open and the second-best player in the world. On Wednesday, his efforts unraveled as his 30-year-old opponent, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, uncorked too many big serves for the heavy-legged Djokovic.

John Isner, all 6 feet 9 of him, had a tall order Thursday night at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. He was the last man standing, of sorts. All the other U.S. singles players, male and female, had headed elsewhere. The top-seeded U.S. men's player, Mardy Fish at No. 8, had been ousted. On the women's side, with the Williams sisters holding fast to their boycott of this event, there was nothing red, white and blue left. So that left it to Isner, seeded No. 11. A victory would put him into his first Indian Wells semifinals.

The tennis triumvirate that has made the men's game flourish for some time continued doing the same Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Not often do Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, play separate matches in the same session in tournaments. Seedings and built-in rest days take care of that. But they did so Wednesday, making a day-session ticket priceless. And the expected — these days almost presumed — took place.