Tennis

Brian Price, once a wrecking ball on UCLA's defensive line, has beaten long odds to return to the NFL after two off-season surgeries aimed at keeping his hamstrings attached to his pelvis, rather than breaking loose and coiling down the backs of his thighs. For Price, who will start at defensive tackle Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his excruciating recovery was a 10-step process. Meaning just two months ago, he could run only 10 steps. "You have these doubts in your head at times," said Price, a second-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2010 who, because of his congenitally malformed pelvis, spent the last half of his rookie season on injured reserve.

The USC men’s tennis team continued its domination, winning its fourth consecutive NCAA championship with a 4-2 victory over Virginia at Athens, Ga. USC endured rain delays and a venue change to defeat the Cavaliers in a match that started Tuesday at 5 p.m. and ended Wednesday around 1 a.m. USC, winner of 20 NCAA men’s tennis championships, became the first school since Stanford to win four consecutive titles. The Cardinal won in 1995 through '98.

The biggest home in Los Angeles County is ready for a new nickname: The 56,500-square-foot Manor, dubbed Candyland after owner Candy Spelling, has been sold to another wealthy socialite, British heiress Petra Ecclestone, in an all-cash deal for $85 million. As steep as that price is, it's not a record or even close to what Spelling was asking. The priciest Southland home transaction was the 2000 sale of an 8-acre estate in Bel-Air to financial executive Gary Winnick in a deal that included the trade of other land, for a total value of about $94 million.

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.

Roger Federer rallied to beat Tomas Berdych , 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, and win the Madrid Open for a third time on Sunday. Earlier, Serena Williams overpowered top-ranked Victoria Azarenka , 6-1, 6-3, to win the women's final. While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had blamed the new blue-clay court for their early exits, Federer's biggest obstacle was to overcome an opponent who had beaten him in three of their previous five meetings. "It is amazing to win here again," said Federer, who will overtake Nadal as the second-ranked player behind Djokovic.

After nearly two weeks of live French Open coverage on the Tennis Channel and ESPN2, NBC jumps into the mix when play reaches the semifinals. And Friday that means taped coverage of the men's semifinals on the West Coast because NBC will air the broadcast after "Today" at 11 a.m. But NBC is making a concession: You can watch the network's coverage live on NBCSports.com. Play begins at Roland Garros at 5 a.m. PDT with the Rafael Nadal-Andy Murray semifinal, followed by the match between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

A diamond-encrusted lining is emerging in Southern California's cloudy real estate market. At least a half-dozen Westside mega-estates have sold for more than $20 million so far this year — creating a deafening buzz in local realty circles. Only a few home sales in other Southland counties have surpassed the $20-million mark. On the horizon is the close of Candy Spelling's larger-than-White-House-sized "Manor," which has reigned supreme from its $150-million listing price perch in Holmby Hills for more than two years and is expected to eclipse last year's record $50-million Bel-Air sale by a wide margin.

This will be a cakewalk, I tell myself, even though I'm up against a pair of convicted killers. I toss a tennis ball and swing, a familiar feeling. Years ago I was pretty good, but I don't play much anymore. The guys on the other side, two members of a squad called the Inside Tennis Team, do. This is tennis behind the broad, looming walls of San Quentin. We're on a forlorn court lined by a fence low enough to let bullets fly in from a nearby watchtower, should the need arise.

Headline in a London tabloid: "My Daddy's No Monster." You don't have to be a tennis insider to know immediately what that story is about. It has to be about Steffi and Peter, daughter and daddy. The hottest show in tennis, Steffi and Peter Graf are in town for a scheduled two-week run at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. They have come to conquer Wimbledon, or give it their best shot. Steffi Graf, who recently turned 18, has won seven tournaments in a row, and 41 straight matches.

Alex Olmedo had forgotten his tennis racket and needed one as a prop for a newspaper photograph. So without hesitation he walked to the small tennis office of the public park near his home and asked the attendant if he could borrow one. "Got any ID?" asked the young man as Olmedo pulled a racket from a shopping cart filled with green balls. The question seemed to irritate Olmedo, 58, a former Wimbledon champion and well-known teaching pro.

The USC men's tennis team won its fourth consecutive NCAA championship Tuesday night, defeating Virginia, 4-2, at Athens, Ga. The Trojans (33-1) beat the Cavaliers (29-2) for the fourth year in a row in the NCAA tournament and the second consecutive year in the final. After losing the doubles point, USC won four singles matches. Freshman Yannick Hanfmann clinched the championship with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Justin Shane . USC's Steve Johnson beat Jarmere Jenkins , 6-3, 6-2, for his 66th consecutive victory in singles.

Roger Federer rallied to beat Tomas Berdych , 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, and win the Madrid Open for a third time on Sunday. Earlier, Serena Williams overpowered top-ranked Victoria Azarenka , 6-1, 6-3, to win the women's final. While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had blamed the new blue-clay court for their early exits, Federer's biggest obstacle was to overcome an opponent who had beaten him in three of their previous five meetings. "It is amazing to win here again," said Federer, who will overtake Nadal as the second-ranked player behind Djokovic.

Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times after beating David Ferrer , 7-6 (1), 7-5, in Sunday's Barcelona Open final in Spain. The second-ranked Nadal's 21st straight victory on clay followed up his eighth straight win in Monte Carlo, as Nadal won the 10th all-Spanish ATP final for the 48th win of his career. The sixth-ranked Ferrer lost his fourth Barcelona Open final to Nadal, who saved 12 of 15 break points for a 34th straight victory at Barcelona.

Friday in Ojai was a day best suited for canvas and watercolors. Also, because it was Ojai, for tennis. We live in an era where tradition means you did the same thing last year. In Ojai, their tennis tradition runs a bit deeper. This weekend's tournament, simply called "The Ojai" because that's all that is needed, is the 112th. Some of the trees surrounding the courts in Libbey Park look as if they were there when this all started. To be clear, this is no collection of hackers in green shorts and cheap rackets.

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.

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.

Britain will try to rejoin the Davis Cup World Group tournament for the first time since 1987 when it plays host to top-seeded Austria in a qualifying series Sept. 20-22. Sweden, which was in the Davis Cup finals from 1983-89, but lost in the first round this year to Yugoslavia, will play at the Philippines in another qualifier.

  Tennis player Bernard Tomic made a strange request of the chair umpire during a changeover in his match against David Ferrer at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday: Can you please ask my dad to leave the stands. A television camera picked up the exchange after Tomic held serve to go up, 3-2, in the second set. "He's annoying me. I know he's my father, but he's annoying me," Tomic says. "I want him to leave as soon as possible. " An obviously surprised chair umpire responds "If you tell him to leave what will happen?"