Andy Roddick

The night before, his opponent had declared that it wasn't ability that was carrying an aging Pete Sampras through this U.S. Open. "He's a step-and-a-half slow coming into the net. He's just not the same player," Greg Rusedski said after losing to Sampras in five sets Monday night. "I lost the match. He didn't win. . . . He's not playing that great. I'll be surprised if he wins his next match, to be honest with you. " Last night, the crowd at Flushing Meadows got to enjoy those remarks after a revived Sampras, a four-time winner here, took out No. 3 seed Tommy Haas, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7)

Andy Roddick got the best of John McEnroe, but the Freedoms fell to the New York Sportimes, 20-19, in a World TeamTennis match at Randalls Island, N.Y., last night. Roddick defeated McEnroe, 5-4, in men's singles and teamed with Prakash Amritraj to down McEnroe and Robert Kendrick, 5-4, in men's doubles. Roddick also competed on the winning mixed doubles team. In other matches, the Sportimes' Abigail Spears defeated the Freedoms' Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 5-2, in women's singles and Spears and Ashley Harkleroad downed Lertcheewakarn and Courtney Nagle, in women's doubles, 5-2. Roddick makes his only home appearance of the season tonight against the Boston Lobsters at 7 o'clock at Villanova's Pavilion.

The Freedoms made Andy Roddick the top pick in the World TeamTennis marquee draft yesterday. Roddick, the top-ranked American player, will play one home match for the Freedoms at Villanova's Pavilion. This will be his sixth WTT season, and first since 2005. The season runs from July 5 to 25. The schedule will be released later this month. Team lineups will be finalized at the WTT Roster Draft on March 16. The Freedoms also will host visits from Serena and Venus Williams (Washington)

NEW YORK - The U.S. Open's most stunning loss yesterday was bigger than just the Grand Slam tournament, with Venus Williams withdrawing and revealing she's suffering from an autoimmune disease. The seven-time major champion said in a statement that she was recently diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, "an ongoing medical condition that affects my energy level and causes fatigue and joint pain. " Williams, in her first match in 2 months, beat Vesna Dolonts, 6-4, 6-3, on Monday.

Andy Roddick won men's singles and mixed doubles matches to lead the Freedoms to a 24-17 victory over the Boston Lobsters in World TeamTennis action at the Villanova Pavilion last night. It was Roddick's first appearance at a home match this season. Roddick defeated Jan-Michael Gambill, 5-4, in men's singles, then teamed with Courtney Nagle to down Eric Butorac and Raquel Kops-Jones, 5-4, in mixed doubles. Roddick's lone loss came in men's doubles when he and Prakash Amritraj fell to Butorac and Gambill, 5-4. In women's singles, the Freedoms' Noppawan Lertcheewakarn defeated Coco Vandeweghe, 5-4. In women's doubles, Lertcheewakarn and Nagle dominated Kops-Jones and Vandeweghe, 5-0. The Freedoms improved to 4-5. The Lobsters dropped to 3-6. Tonight, the Freedoms take on the Martina Hingis-led New York Buzz at the University of Albany.

Andy Roddick, battling a queasy stomach, yesterday won the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., when Guillermo Coria retired because of back spasms. Coria retired after losing the first three points of the fourth set, trailing 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-1. It's the fourth time in 15 years that the men's final has been affected by an ailing player. Roddick acknowledged he could have done worse than a little nausea. "I'll take sick to my stomach over injured any day," Roddick said.

All-American finals on the ATP Tour have been very rare in recent years. That might be about to change. Andy Roddick beat Davis Cup teammate James Blake, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, yesterday in the finals of the Kroger St. Jude tournament in Memphis, Tenn. The match was just the 11th all-American ATP Tour title match since 1997, and just the third time that neither player was named Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras. "I hope those rumors of American tennis dying are starting to quiet down a little more," Blake said.

Maybe all that talk from Andy Roddick and Venus Williams about taking the Olympics as seriously as a Grand Slam was just that: talk. Or perhaps they just played poorly against inspired opponents. Either way, both former No. 1 players were sent home by straight-set upsets in the third round yesterday, taking their star power with them and leaving the tournament with the feel of just another second-tier event. A day after top-ranked Roger Federer lost, apparently easing Roddick's path to a medal, the U.S. Open champion was beaten, 6-4, 6-4, by No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez, of Chile.

Andy Roddick fired coach Brad Gilbert last weekend after 1 1/2 years together that yielded a U.S. Open title and the No. 1 ranking. No specific reason was given for the surprising split in a statement Roddick released yesterday through SFX Sports Group. "The decision to not rehire Brad Gilbert for the 2005 season is based on what I think is best for my game at this time," Roddick said. "Any more on this situation is a private matter between coach and player. That being said, I enjoyed my time with Brad and wish him continued success in his future.

NEW YORK - Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray got in about 15 minutes of tennis Wednesday - barely enough to work up a sweat, but more than enough to get into a snit. Rain washed out U.S. Open matches for the second consecutive day, creating a logjam in the schedule and a bigger mess in the locker room, where the big-name players questioned the wisdom of putting them out on courts that were still damp thanks to a fine mist in the morning. Shortly after they started, play was called, then late in the afternoon the men were sent home.

The U.S. men's eight, featuring former Drexel rower Steve Kasprzyk of Cinnaminson, beat New Zealand by four seconds on the Rotsee course in Lucerne, Switzerland, Tuesday, to win the final and earn a spot in the London Olympics. The U.S. crew led from the start and won in a time of 5 minutes, 36.11 seconds, with New Zealand second in 5:40.02. France was third in 5:46.35. The U.S.'s women's double sculls, and lightweight men's four also won places in the London Games. Sarah Trowbridge and Margot Shumway dominated the finals of the double sculls to finish more than a second ahead of the Netherlands in 7:03.96.

MELBOURNE, Australia - Rafael Nadal moved into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday without dropping a set or showing any signs that a freak knee injury is bothering him. Second-ranked Nadal had a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Slovakia's Lukas Lacko, the last qualifier in the draw, and will next play either John Isner or Feliciano Lopez. Nadal, who won the 2009 Australian title but has gone out in the quarterfinals due to injuries in the last two years, felt a crack and then sharp pain in his right knee while sitting in a chair at his hotel on the weekend and was concerned that he might not be able to play in his opening match.

Disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis was convicted by a French court Thursday for his role in hacking into the computers of the lab that caught him cheating at the 2006 Tour de France. The court in Nanterre, handed Lancaster County native Landis and former coach Arnie Baker 12-month suspended sentences for benefiting from information culled from computers of a lab in Chatenay-Malabry accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Both were tried in absentia. Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour title after the lab found unusually high testosterone levels.

Former Phillies and New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra was convicted of three counts of grand theft auto and filing a false financial statement after declining to challenge the charges in Los Angeles. Dykstra, 48, pleaded "no contest" in court Wednesday and faces as long as four years in state prison. He was released pending his sentencing on Jan. 20. American cyclist Floyd Landis and his former manager Arnie Baker went on trial in absentia in France on Thursday over allegations they spearheaded a plot to hack into an anti-doping laboratory's computers.

Andy Roddick rallied to beat Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, Monday in the first round of the Shanghai Masters. The 10th-seeded Roddick won the first set easily, but Lu picked up his game in the second, rushing the net repeatedly and hitting 15 winners to eight for the American. The former U.S. Open champion then broke Lu twice in the third set to close out the match. Roddick was beaten by Lu in five sets in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, the last time the two players met. Eighth-seeded Christina McHale lost in the first round of the Japan Open in Osaka, beaten by Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn , 6-3, 7-5. COLLEGES: Steve Cantrell was named wrestling coach at Delaware Valley College.

NEW YORK - Defending champion Rafael Nadal overwhelmed Andy Roddick right from the start in their U.S. Open quarterfinal. Whipping passing shots from all angles and returning superbly, the No. 2-seeded Nadal beat No. 21 Roddick, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, on Friday to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the fourth consecutive year. Nadal compiled a stunning, 22-0 edge in forehand winners and broke Roddick's powerful serve six times. "It was quick. Obviously, it was a combination of things that probably weren't going to work out today," said Roddick, who had trouble pushing off on his fatigued legs and was massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout in the third set. "It was evident pretty early that he was in full control.

NEW YORK - Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray got in about 15 minutes of tennis Wednesday - barely enough to work up a sweat, but more than enough to get into a snit. Rain washed out U.S. Open matches for the second consecutive day, creating a logjam in the schedule and a bigger mess in the locker room, where the big-name players questioned the wisdom of putting them out on courts that were still damp thanks to a fine mist in the morning. Shortly after they started, play was called, then late in the afternoon the men were sent home.

NEW YORK - Maria Sharapova's undefeated record in three-set matches ended yesterday, and so did her stay at the U.S. Open. No. 26 seed Flavia Pennetta, of Italy, knocked off the 2006 champion, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, in the third round to hand Sharapova her first loss in 13 three-set matches this year. "She's a good fighter," said Pennetta, who conceded she didn't know about Sharapova's record in three-setters. "You can never give up with her. You have to be focused until the last game, until the last point, actually.

NEW YORK - The U.S. Open's most stunning loss yesterday was bigger than just the Grand Slam tournament, with Venus Williams withdrawing and revealing she's suffering from an autoimmune disease. The seven-time major champion said in a statement that she was recently diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, "an ongoing medical condition that affects my energy level and causes fatigue and joint pain. " Williams, in her first match in 2 months, beat Vesna Dolonts, 6-4, 6-3, on Monday.

WIMBLEDON, England - Head bowed, Andy Roddick trudged off Centre Court, his purple Wimbledon towel dragging along the turf. As the three-time runner-up at the All England Club headed for the exit, he passed some kids clamoring for an autograph from their front-row perch. Roddick paused and tossed his blue-framed racket underhand. Thanks to his latest earlier-than-anticipated Grand Slam loss, the American won't be needing it next week. The eighth-seeded Roddick departed quickly yesterday, beaten 7-6 (2)