Federer, Roddick to meet in Key Biscayne quarters

Taylor Dent kept charging and Roger Federer kept passing him to win 6-3, 6-2 and line up a quarterfinal against Andy Roddick at the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday.

No. 2-seeded Federer has won 16 of their 18 matches but lost to No. 5 Roddick in the Key Biscayne quarterfinals last year.

Nearly all of the top eight seeds made it through the fourth round, including No. 3 Novak Djokovic No. 4 Andy Murray, No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro and No. 8 Fernando Verdasco. No. 7 Gilles Simon lost to fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2, and top-seeded Rafael Nadal was in the late match.

In the first women's quarterfinal, No. 8-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova outlasted 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Dent's only break-point chances - all eight - against Federer came in their 26-point fifth game. Federer double-faulted twice in the game and dumped several hurried shots into the net, which left him mumbling and screaming at himself.

He finally whacked a service winner to hold, and his game steadied after that.

Djokovic dispatched Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2 and set up a quarterfinal with Tsonga.

Djokovic won his first match against Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open final, but since then Tsonga has won all four of their meetings, including last month in the semifinals at Marseille, where Tsonga won his second title of the year.

"I have lost to Tsonga four times in a row, so he has a little advantage," Djokovic said. "But I think all the matches we have played were very close. It's going to be a challenge for me to win."

Djokovic has lost only 15 games in three matches since he endured a quarterfinal drubbing against Roddick at Indian Wells 10 days ago. He was seeking his second title at Key Biscayne. He won the tournament in 2007, then lost his opening match last year.

Tsonga outserved Simon to even their ATP matchups at 1-1. Simon won the first set in the tiebreaker but couldn't earn a break chance in the second set. In the third, Tsonga grabbed two of three break points while Simon missed all four of his.

Murray beat unseeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-1, 6-0, and Verdasco was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

Murray and Verdasco will meet for the first time since the Australian Open, where the Spaniard beat Murray in the fourth round en route to his first Grand Slam semifinals. Murray had won all five of their previous meetings to that point.

Roddick won 22 points at the net in beating No. 9 Gael Monfils 7-6 (2), 6-4.

The willingness to move forward was part of Roddick's more well-rounded game under Larry Stefanki, who became his coach in December. Roddick leads the ATP in victories this year with a record of 26-4. While Roddick has improved his volley and backhand in recent months, he still possesses an overpowering serve and won 38 of 44 first-serve points against Monfils.

"From the tiebreaker on I definitely felt like I was in control," said Roddick, who won the Key Biscayne title in 2004.

Del Potro beat No. 11 David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2 to reach his fifth successive quarterfinals, including the Australian Open, since he started his year with the title in Auckland, New Zealand.

Kuznetsova slowly crumpled to the court in exhaustion when she held off Wozniacki for 2 hours, 54 minutes in humid, 80-degree (27-degree C) sunshine.

Wozniacki extended the match from 6-4, 5-2 down, saving three match points for 5-5.

"I was until 5-3 feeling very comfortable out there, but I got so dizzy and tired," Kuznetsova said. "The conditions played a big role in my game."

Kuznetsova, the 2006 champion, will play in the semifinals on Thursday against the winner of a late match between Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Samantha Stosur of Australia.

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S. Williams, Nadal enjoy edge as Key Biscayne fan favorites

South Florida is loco for Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

The ongoing love affair partly explains why the Sony Ericsson Open's top seeds often hit their stride at this high-profile event, often called the "fifth" Grand Slam tournament.

It's a "really, really nice feeling," Nadal said of the fan support.

Said Williams, who lives in nearby Palm Beach Gardens: "Obviously it's one of my favorite tournaments. I feel like I'm playing at home here, so it's fine."

On Monday, the affection didn't prevent some lackluster form, but both came out on top.

Twice runner-up Nadal, fresh off a hardcourt title at Indian Wells, Calif., improved his 2009 record to 23-2 when he faced down a stern test from qualifier Frederico Gil 7-5, 6-3. Nadal will play No. 16 seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round.

Two-time defending champ Williams - 19-2 this season - played erratically against plucky Chinese opponent Jie Zheng before prevailing 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Nadal and Williams thrive in the tropical climate.

Nadal's fist-pumping bravado is right at home in the Miami area, with its large Latin population. He is mobbed for autographs wherever he goes. His practice sessions are three rows deep. And his popularity has soared to new heights since he supplanted Roger Federer at No. 1 in August.

A-list regular Williams has been a megastar in this paparazzi-ready region since she and older sister Venus started dominating the tournament a decade ago. Together, they own eight of the last 11 titles.

It's also home turf, which explains the large entourage of family and friends that have regularly attended their matches.

"They both have a glamorous flair about them that transcends tennis," tournament director Adam Barrett said.

Nadal, 22, has come into his own on cement - he is 21-2 on the surface this season - after dominating clay the last four years with a quartet of French Open titles. In January the reigning Wimbledon champ added his first major title on a hardcourt at the Australian Open.

Williams, 27, has always excelled on hardcourts. Seven of her 10 majors are on the surface, and she has five titles in Key Biscayne (2002-04, 2007-08).

With Melbourne titles in their back pockets in 2009, the current No. 1's are still in contention for a calendar-year Grand Slam. No man or woman has achieved that since Steffi Graf in 1988.

Monday, Nadal brushed off the possibility as too far off to ponder. Williams, who won four consecutive majors in 2002-03, said she isn't overly preoccupied with it.

"I don't really put too much pressure on myself anymore," she said.

These two charismatic stars differ in one regard: Nadal's spot atop the rankings is safe no matter how he fares this week. Williams could lose the No. 1 position to third-round loser Dinara Safina of Russia if she fails to reach the final.

Elsewhere, top women seeds continued to fall. No. 4 Elena Dementieva became latest to crash out when she lost to Danish teen and No. 13 seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round. Six of the top 10 women seeds are gone.

Venus Williams avoided the upset bug but needed three sets to hold off Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals.

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Nadal struggles, still survives at Sony Ericsson

Rafael Nadal has advanced to the fourth round at the Sony Ericsson Open by beating qualifier Frederico Gil 7-5, 6-3.

The top-ranked Nadal struggled with his second serve and was broken twice Monday but gradually wore down Gil, who is ranked a career-best 74th.

The top men have avoided the wave of upsets that has marked the women's draw. The latest surprise was 18-year-old Caroline Wozniacki's victory over No. 4-seeded Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-4.

Dementieva was the sixth top-10 player eliminated.

Wozniacki, who last week was selected WTA Tour newcomer of the year for 2008, advanced to the quarterfinals. She took advantage of 45 unforced errors by Dementieva.

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Serena swats her way past Glatch, into third round at Sony

On a sunny day in South Florida, the future of American women's tennis seldom looked so gloomy.

The present's in good hands thanks to Serena and Venus Williams, but they were the lone U.S. females among the 32 players reaching the third round at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Top-ranked Serena won 6-2, 6-3 against 19-year-old Californian Alexa Glatch, who conceded her generation has yet to produce a player worthy of succeeding the Williams sisters.

"There is a gap there right now," Glatch said. "You can't deny that. It's very tough out here."

No. 5-seeded Venus Williams also won her opening match, beating Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3. Seeded players had first-round byes.

It was hardly a banner day for American men, who went 0-5, with all the losses in three sets. Sam Querrey, John Isner, Amer Delic and Bobby Reynolds were beaten by seeded opponents, and No. 27 Mardy Fish also lost, leaving four U.S. males to start the third round Sunday.

The showing by American women is hardly a surprise, because only four are ranked in the top 100, and the Williams sisters are the lone U.S. players in the top 30. No American teenager is being heralded as a future Grand Slam champion, and former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said the situation is worrisome.

"We don't really have anyone right now," Davenport said. "If you look at the rankings, with only Venus at age 28 and Serena at 27, it's not a good state."

The state of Serena's game is just fine, however. She needed only one swing to reassert her superiority at the tournament where she's most dominant, pulling a return winner crosscourt on the first point to make a quick impression on Glatch.

"She just nailed it," Glatch said. "I don't think I even saw it. I was like, 'OK, here we go."'

An hour later, there Glatch went. For Williams, the victory was the first step in her bid for a record sixth Key Biscayne title.

Her older sister started more slowly, losing 12 of the first 14 points before taking charge by winning six games in a row.

"I haven't played in almost four weeks, so just a little bit of a slow start," Venus said. "But I always felt confident."

Venus is a three-time Key Biscayne champion, although her most recent title came in 2001.

On the men's side, Fish lost to Nicolas Massu 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in a rematch of the 2004 Olympic final, which Massu also won. Querrey was beaten by No. 32-seeded Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-2; Isner lost to No. 11 David Ferrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; and Reynolds was defeated by No. 18 Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2. Delic lost a night match to No. 17 Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3.

Top prospects among American women include 17-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe, 17-year-old Julia Boserup and 16-year-old Christina McHale. None is ranked higher than No. 381, and only Vandeweghe played in the main singles draw at Key Biscayne, losing in the first round.

"They're all at that age where a lot of players by that time are winning a lot of matches," Davenport said. "I'm hopeful if one breaks through, the rest will kind of follow her lead."

Even older is Glatch, who has made progress in fits and starts. She was the U.S. Open juniors runner-up in singles and doubles in 2005, but soon after that a motor-scooter accident sidelined her for nine months.

She's now ranked a career-high 124th, yet still needed a wild card to enter Key Biscayne. She smiled when asked if she's the face of the future for American tennis.

"I could be. I could not be," Glatch said. "You never know. I got that question asked to me many times when I was younger, but not lately."

Serena Williams remembers being 19 - she was already a U.S. Open champion. But she said it's too early to count out Glatch and her contemporaries.

"I definitely think there will be some players who will emerge," Williams said. "I think it's inevitable."

Glatch didn't rise to the occasion in her first meeting with Williams. The youngster had brief hope with two breakpoint chances to reach 4-all in the second set, but a not-ready-for-prime-time forehand repeatedly betrayed her.

"I don't think I played my best tennis, not even close, probably," Glatch said. "And I don't think she did either. It was kind of an ugly match. We were both a little shaky out there."

Serena confessed to butterflies even though she has lost only one match at Key Biscayne since 2001.

"Just a little jitters going out there," she said. "You know, the first match no one wants to go out."

Especially when American tennis is counting so heavily on your family.

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Roddick rolls past Tursunov to reach Sony's fourth round

Andy Roddick reached the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday after overcoming two set points in the tiebreaker to beat Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6 (9), 6-2.

The fifth-seeded Roddick erased one set point with an ace and the second when Tursunov netted a forehand, and won the final three points in a grueling 75-minute first set. Roddick finished with 11 aces and faced only one break point.

Roddick, who improved his record this year to 25-4 and leads the ATP Tour in victories, lost his temper early in the set when mist fell and umpire Cedric Mourier declined to stop play. After losing his serve, Roddick slammed down his racket, picked it up and threw it again.

"I basically was wondering how many more times we were going to play on a slippery court," Roddick said. "He said, 'Well, no one has fallen yet.' I said, 'Well, if that's a barometer, then we have a problem.' So I feel like my argument was just, but the way I went about it probably wasn't the best."

Roddick said he apologized to Mourier after the match.

Second-seeded Roger Federer also won, beating Nicolas Kiefer for the 11th consecutive time, 6-4, 6-1.

There were two upsets on the women's side, both involving last year's French Open finalists. Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic, the defending Roland Garros champion, lost to No. 25 Agnes Szavay 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. No. 2 Dinara Safina was beaten by unseeded Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-4.

That left the women's draw without three of the seven highest-seeded players. No. 3 Jelena Jankovic was eliminated Saturday by Gisela Dulko.

No. 5 Venus Williams, seeking her fourth Key Biscayne title and her first since 2001, beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5, 6-3. Also, No. 4 Elena Dementieva beat No. 31 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2, and former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-4.

Qualifier Taylor Dent became the second American to reach the fourth round on the men's side when he beat No. 15 Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-3. Dent, ranked 467th, is mounting a comeback from a back injury that has plagued him for three years.

Roddick missed many chances in the first set to make his match shorter. With the 25th-seeded Tursunov serving at 5-all, Roddick failed to convert five break-point chances and finally sailed a forehand long to lose the 22-point game. He also was unable to convert his first three set points in the tiebreaker.

Roddick said gusty wind and high humidity made conditions difficult, so he was content to keep the ball in play and wear Tursunov down with a series of long rallies.

"It's like a swamp out there today," Roddick said. "You're sweating a ton. I mean, you can wring out your shorts afterward. So I wanted to be sure to take advantage of that and make the points tough."

Only two U.S. women made the round of 32 - five-time champion Serena Williams and big sister Venus.

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Clijsters calls press conference as rumors of comeback abound

Former top-ranked Kim Clijsters will hold a news conference Thursday amid reports she is planning a return to the WTA Tour.

The 25-year-old Belgian, who retired two years ago, will "unveil her plans for 2009" at the tennis center where she has been recently training.

"At this time, Kim has not contacted the Tour regarding entry into Tour events," WTA spokesman Andrew Walker wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The Het Belang van Limburg regional newspaper said she was set to enter top-level tournaments. The VTM television network said she may target the U.S. Open, where she won her only Grand Slam title in 2005, as the highlight of her season.

A spokeswoman for Clijsters did not return phone calls.

Though she no longer has a WTA ranking, Clijsters could receive wild cards for any tournament she wants to enter.

Clijsters retired from the WTA Tour in May 2007. She married pro basketball player Brian Lynch and gave birth to a daughter, Jada, in February 2008.

Fellow Belgian star Justine Henin retired last year while still ranked No. 1.

In her last competitive match two years ago, Clijsters lost in the Antwerp Diamond Games final to France's Amelie Mauresmo before a capacity crowd of 14,500 at the Sport Palace.

Clijsters recently announced she would play Steffi Graf on May 17 as part of a series of exhibition matches at Wimbledon to test conditions under the new retractable roof on Centre Court.

She is also scheduled to play an exhibition June 14 at the Ordina Open in Rosmalen against Michaella Krajicek, plus two matches for the St. Louis Aces in the World Team Tennis league in July.

Clijsters reached four Grand Slam finals and won 34 singles titles overall. She won two Grand Slam doubles titles and held the No. 1 ranking for 19 weeks.

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Roger Federer says girlfriend is pregnant

Roger Federer is going to be a father.

The Swiss tennis star said in a message on his Web site Thursday that girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec is pregnant with the couple's first child. The baby is due in the summer.

"This is a dream come true for us," the 27-year-old Federer said. "We love children and we are looking forward to being parents for the first time. Mirka is feeling great and everything is going well."

Federer met Vavrinec at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"We are so happy to be starting a family together," he said.

Federer, a 13-time Grand Slam champion who is ranked No 2, is in Indian Wells, Calif., for a tournament that starts Thursday.

Federer lost to Rafael Nadal in five sets in the Australian Open final. He pulled out of Switzerland's Davis Cup series against the United States and withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships because of an injured back.

"I arrived in Indian Wells earlier this week and I am eager to get back out on court," Federer said. "My back is feeling much better and I am ready to go."

Federer is seeded second behind Nadal at Indian Wells, a tournament he won from 2004-06. He will open against Marc Gicquel or Simone Bolelli.

Tickets for Wimbledon test matches sell out

Tickets for the exhibition matches under Wimbledon's new Centre Court roof have sold out in five minutes.

The May 17 event features former Wimbledon champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, as well as Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman. There will be men's and women's singles matches and a mixed doubles match.

The event is dubbed "A Centre Court Celebration" and is designed to test the new roof and ventilation system with live matches in front of a capacity crowd.

This year's Wimbledon will be held June 22-July 5.

Roger Federer wants to show he can go from two to one

Roger Federer exists in a room like royalty. He doesn't act it. You feel it.

He is a regular guy who really can't be one. The handshake is firm, eye contact direct. His smile says he is happy to do this, to spend this interview time with you. The reality is that he'd rather be a thousand other places.

The world of tennis hasn't seen him publicly since he crumbled in the fifth set of the Australian Open final and fought back a flood of tears. Unsuccessfully.

Now, he is here, in Indian Wells, getting back on the horse that threw him, and doing so with a combination of confidence and humility we have always found irresistible. The men's draw begins today, and Federer will probably start Saturday.

For three years, starting in 2004, this tournament was his personal playground. In those three years, as well as 2007, almost every tournament was. He didn't just dominate. He ruled.

In 2004-07, he won 11 of the possible 16 major titles. Until Aug. 18 of last year, Federer had been the No. 1 men's player in the world. That covered a record 237 weeks.

Maybe one of the first signs of the crown tilting a bit came at this tournament in 2007, then the Pacific Life Classic and now the BNP Paribas Open. He lost in the second round to a journeyman, Guillermo Canas, and lost to Canas again in the next event in Miami.

Then, last year, he was chased out in 63 minutes and straight sets in the semifinals by Mardy Fish.

"I remember thinking, this is going pretty fast," Fish says now, "and thinking, hey, this was Roger Federer, and wishing afterward that it had lasted longer so I could savor it more."

Federer is an accomplished artist whose tools happen to be a racket and strings. He also is an accomplished spokesman for the sport, a pro athlete who has resisted the temptation to badmouth or downplay the achievements of the new man on the throne, Rafael Nadal.

"Yes, I like Rafa, we get along well," Federer says. "He is having the time of his life right now. I had a great run, but for the moment, he is the best in the world."

There is always that "for the moment" phrase. Tennis ought to be thrilled. Avis hasn't quit trying to be Hertz. The most famous No. 2 since Sarah Palin still has designs on No. 1.

When Nadal beat him in the Australian final, the Spaniard took his head-to-head record with Federer to an unthinkable 13-6 overall and five straight. Federer says of that match: "The next day, I was motivated to play him again."

Federer's next shot at a major will be on the clay at Roland Garros in Paris, where Nadal has won the last four and where Federer is perceived to be the least effective. Federer addresses that with humility and humor.

"I don't have a problem on clay," he says. "I have a Rafa problem on clay."

The Australian is six weeks in the past, the French 10 weeks in the future.

That made Indian Wells the perfect desert oasis to talk about things not usually on the interview list. Kind of People magazine meets Sports Illustrated.

The 27-year-old Federer says his only sibling, sister Diana, 20 months his elder, is a nurse in Switzerland, has a nice boyfriend and never played much tennis.

"She was good at ground hockey and volleyball," he says, nodding and smiling at the possibility that she might have been a better athlete than he, given the chance.

He says his calm demeanor on the court dates back to a time when his parents advised him, then a teenage racket-thrower, that he'd get more out of his game if he didn't get so emotional about every point.

"I still think, even being like that, I could have had a pretty good career," he says. "But they looked at what was best in the long run, and parents are usually right."

The man who has met presidents, kings and diplomats went quickly from Tiger Woods to an even bigger name when asked who was most impressive on his list of elbow-rubbing with dignitaries.

"You shake hands with him," Federer says, "and you sit there later and you think, 'Oh, my God, the pope.' The night before, you sit there and think, 'What do I wear? What is appropriate?' "

Years ago, Federer started a foundation that gets children into school in South Africa and keeps them there. He remembers his visit a few years ago.

"To see them happy as they are, I remember that," he says. "They were in a place with friends. They were part of something. Some people think kids just need toys to be happy. They need so much more."

And he talked about a tennis afterlife.

"Five years ago, had you asked about that," he says, "I would have told you about how I was No. 1 and was still winning Slams. I would have been defensive. Now, that is a fair question.

"This is a transition time in my life. I'm still competitive, still trying to win Slams, but I think about what comes next. It might be the foundation, it might be something with one of my longtime sponsors. I hope it is something still connected to tennis. That's been my life."

Even for royalty, there is a twilight. Federer hopes his isn't quite here yet.

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Andy Roddick closes out U.S. victory in Davis Cup match

Andy Roddick again closed out a victory for the United States Davis Cup team.

Roddick swept past Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets to give the U.S. an opening round victory Sunday in the best-of-five series.

Roddick, ranked sixth in the world, is now 11-0 with a chance to close out a Davis Cup series.

This one was emphatic: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Next up for the U.S. is Croatia in the quarterfinals on July 10-12. Roddick wasn't overly impressed by his perfect record in this role.

"In order to clinch, your team has to put you up 2-1," Roddick said. "I've always had a chance to play that fourth match. A lot of it is circumstantial and the way the schedule and draw plays out. I've gotten a lot of chances to do that.

"I've simplified the way I look at it. You come in and regardless of what the score is -- everyone makes a big deal about it and obviously it's extremely relevant, but at the same time I've got to come out and try to win a point each day I play."

Roddick's 31st Davis Cup win moved him past Andre Agassi into second place on the U.S. list, 10 behind John McEnroe.

"I'm kind of a nerd about the history of our sport," he said. "It was kind of in the back of my mind. There's probably a few moments in your career where you can sit back and be a little impressed.

"When you get mentioned with Andre, who I grew up watching ... Andre was always the guy that every one leaned on to come through. To kind of surpass him now is extremely surreal, but it's definitely one of those fun moments also."

Dominating with his serve, he faced only one break point during the match and had 14 aces.

The U.S. has won 20 consecutive matches after taking a 2-1 lead. The Americans didn't have to contend with an absent Roger Federer in this one, since the Swiss star was out with back problems.

James Blake then topped Marco Chiudinelli, 6-4, 7-6 (6), in a best-of-three match to give the U.S. a 4-1 victory margin.

Roddick now has a 21-2 match record at home in the Davis Cup, including nine straight wins. He also breezed by Chiudinelli on Friday.

Mike Bryan had guaranteed a Roddick win after his doubles victory a day earlier, and his teammate never gave him cause to doubt the prediction. Roddick took control when he broke Wawrinka's serve for a 4-3 lead in the opening set.

"I was sitting there putting my shoes on and he goes, 'I guarantee a victory,"' Roddick said. "I kind of progressively got tighter and tighter as he was talking. I guess it would be easy to blame him if I had lost.

"But I guess he ended up looking smart."

The only real drama in the third set came when Roddick was down 0-30 in the final game and it looked like Wawrinka might keep it going. Roddick won the last four points to complete the sweep.

"I made him play every point and he toughened up there from 30-all on on a couple of rallies," he said. "Any time you're serving a set out, you don't want to be down love-30."

The American foursome then took a celebratory jog with the flag around the court for the 15,118 fans.

Wawrinka, ranked No. 16, has lost each of his three matches with the Swiss trailing 1-2 and trying to stay alive.

"The strategy was to attack him," Wawrinka said. "When he gives some short ball, you need to come to the net to take care of the ball, to push him a lot.

"He was playing too good for me to do that."

In other first-round series, Israel, Czech Republic, Russia, Germany and Spain won Sunday to reach the quarterfinals. Croatia and Argentina advanced Saturday.

Israel made the quarters for the first time since 1987, winning both singles matches to oust seven-time champion Sweden 3-2 in Malmo. Harel Levy beat Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6, in a series overshadowed by political protests and played in a nearly empty arena. Earlier, Dudi Sela evened the score by edging Thomas Johansson, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Only about 300 guests were allowed to watch because city officials said they couldn't guarantee security. On Saturday, rock-throwing protesters bent on stopping play clashed with police in an attempt to storm the arena.

The U.S. will visit Croatia, a 3-0 winner over Chile. Croatia has won both previous series with the U.S. and is the only nation with a winning record against the Americans.

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Sharapova to play doubles at Indian Wells

Maria Sharapova is returning to the WTA Tour this week, ending her injury absence of more than seven months by playing doubles at an event in Indian Wells, Calif.

Sharapova, who missed the last two Grand Slam tournaments with a right shoulder injury, will compete in doubles for the first time in nearly four years, teaming with Elena Vesnina.

What the three-time major champion isn't yet ready to do is play singles, according to her Web site.

"I am excited to be playing competitive tennis again," Sharapova said in a posting on her site. "The healing process takes time, and requires things to move more slowly than I would like, but I am taking things one step at a time."

Sharapova has not played competitively since pulling out of a tournament in Montreal in late July after winning a nearly three-hour match in which she double-faulted 17 times. The right-hander was examined by a trainer midway through the three-set victory, and she withdrew from the tournament before her next match.

Medical tests later found a torn rotator cuff tendon in the Russian's shoulder.

In addition to missing last year's U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open, Sharapova also pulled out of an indoor event in Paris and a hard-court tournament in Dubai last month.

The joint ATP-WTA tournament in Indian Wells begins Wednesday.

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