Off the wire

TENNIS

Djokovic, Federer advance

Defending champion Novak Djokovic needed less than an hour to advance at the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, while Roger Federer struggled to seal his place in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Djokovic swept to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 51st-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in 57 minutes, but fourth-seeded Federer had to fight off a serious challenge from 48th-ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before coming through 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3. In the first set, Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead before Bautista Agut held serve to win his only game in the set. The only hiccup Djokovic had in the second set was while serving for the match at 5-2. He dropped his serve in that game but broke serve in the next to close out the match. Djokovic will play sixth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, who beat British wild card James Ward 6-1, 7-6 (3). Federer came into his 2-hour, 8-minute match with a 12-2 record over Stepanek. He’s won their past nine meetings dating to the 2008 Rome quarterfinals. Federer handled the first set with confidence but started to falter as Stepanek became more aggressive in the second set. Federer managed to rebound from 4-2 down in the second set to force a tiebreaker - where Stepanek raced into a 6-2 and a first set point when Federer double faulted. Stepanek won the set on his third set point when Federer netted a forehand. Federer will face another Czech player, Lukas Rosol, who upset eighth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (4). Like Djokovic, third-seeded Tomas Berdych had an easy path to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. Berdych, who will face fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, has won his past eight matches. Seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Andrea Seppi of Italy. Kohlschreiber will play Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri, who beat Somdev Devvarman of India 6-3, 7-5.

Top-seeded Tommy Haas defeated qualifier Potito Starace 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the clay-court Brazil Open quarterfinals Wednesday in Sao Paulo. The 12th-ranked Haas served well throughout the match at the Ibirapuera arena, allowing only one break point to the 152nd-ranked Italian. Both players held serve until the first-set tiebreak, when Haas stepped up his game to easily clinch the set. The German then broke Starace’s serve two times in a row late in the second set to close out the match in 1 hour, 30 minutes. Hass will next play Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos, who defeated countryman Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4. Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain, a three time winner in Brazil, was upset by Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 3-6, 2-6.

BASKETBALL Pippen counter sues

Scottie Pippen (Hamburg, Central Arkansas) has filed a countersuit against a Southern California man who claims the former Chicago Bulls star assaulted him at a sushi restaurant last year. The Los Angeles Times reported the cross-complaint filed this month alleges Camran Shafighi, 49, cursed at Pippen using racial slurs, spat on him and his children, and threatened to kill him. Pippen’s suit calls for unspecified damages. Shafighi filed a $4 million lawsuit against Pippen, accusing him of a “brutal and unjustified physical attack” that allegedly occurred outside Malibu’s Nobu restaurant after Shafighi had sought a picture with the former NBA All-Star. An attorney for Shafighi declined Tuesday to comment on the cross-complaint. Los Angeles County prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to bring assault charges against the 47-year-old Pippen.

Jason Collins hasn’t even worn his No. 98 jersey in a game yet, and already it’s a big seller. Collins had four of the top five selling jersey items Wednesday on NBAStore.com, the day the NBA’s first openly gay player was to wear the jersey in a game for the first time at Portland. His home and road replica jerseys, the women’s replica road jersey and the men’s T-shirt with his number on it were tops in their categories. A LeBron James item led the fifth category. A league spokesman said Collins’ items were No. 1 in those four categories. He wore No. 46 on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers because his preferred number wasn’t available yet. Collins picked No. 98 in tribute to Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in a gay hate crime. The league doesn’t provide the number of jerseys sold.

MOTOR SPORTS

F1: Races won’t compete

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said his series and NASCAR won’t be competing for the same motor sports fans in Texas when they hold races 190 miles apart in November. Ecclestone on Wednesday dismissed any clash between the series after the top executive at Texas Motor Speedway called F1 “arrogant” for scheduling the United States Grand Prix in Austin on the same weekend that his track hosts NASCAR in Fort Worth. “I absolutely think it’s foolish,” said EddieGossage, the track president and general manager. “It’s a shot fired by Formula One at NASCAR. I can’t say I was surprised because Bernie Ecclestone does a lot of foolish things. The thing he unfortunately doesn’t recognize is there is an 800-pound gorilla when it comes to major American motor sports. The 800-pound gorilla is NASCAR.” Texas Motor Speedway will host NASCAR’s Texas 500 on Nov. 2, the same day F1 will hold its only race in the United States this year. Fort Worth is about a three-hour drive from Austin.

Jacques Villeneuve will finally get a chance to win a second Indianapolis 500. Almost two decades after winning his first title, the 42-year-old Canadian will return to Indy in May, driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. The official announcement came Wednesday. In 1995, Villeneuve won the 500 and the CART championship but hasn’t started an IndyCar race since then. He left for Formula One after the 1995 season where he competed from 1996 through 2006. He won the world championship in 1997,then moved to stock cars in 2007 and has run in a variety of series including Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Le Mans as well as sports cars. In two IndyCar seasons, Villeneuve won six poles and five races. This year’s 500 is scheduled for May 25.

CYCLING Panel to review bonuses

A Texas judge has dealt a blow to Lance Armstrong, clearing the way for an arbitration panel to review $12 million in bonuses the cyclist was paid before admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs. Judge Tonya Parker declined to stop the panel from considering whether Dallas-based SCA Promotions should be repaid the bonuses it awarded Armstrong for three of his seven Tour de France victories. Jeff Tillotson, an attorney for SCA Promotions, said Wednesday that the panel will meet next month to consider his request for repayment of $12 million in bonuses and penalties for lying under oath. SCA Promotions filed one of several lawsuits against Armstrong after he admitted to doping. He has been stripped of all seven victories and received a lifetime ban from the sport.

OLYMPICS Russian says she’ll walk

Olympic skicross racer Maria Komissarova of Russia remains confident of walking again despite having no feeling in her legs. Komissarova wrote on Instagram: “I don’t feel my body below my navel. But I am strong and I know that I’ll be able to stand on my legs again some day.” Komissarova, 23, remains in a Munich rehabilitation center after breaking her spine at the Sochi Winter Games. She will remain there for at least three months, a spokesman for the Russian freestyle ski federation told the Interfax news agency. Komissarova crashed during a training run Feb. 15, fracturing the 12th dorsal vertebrae in her lower-middle back. She underwent emergency surgery lasting 6 ½ hours at Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, a day before being airlifted to Germany for further treatment.