Jankovic advances to U.S. Open semifinal
NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Jelena Jankovic continued her steady climb upwards at the U.S. Open on Tuesday, defeating fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva to advance to the semifinal.
Jankovic, the 19th seed, smashed the Russian 6-2, 6-1. In the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career, Jankovic will play either 10th-seeded American Lindsay Davenport or second-seeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, matched against each other in Tuesday night's quarter-final.
A Serbian who lives and trains in Florida, Jankovic has moved up through the majors this year to the second round in the Australian Open, the third round at the French Open and the fourth at Wimbledon. In her previous U.S. Open match, she defeated sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
Dementieva played sluggishly, never holding serve and committing five double faults and 39 unforced errors.
Neviaser quits as Delaware defensive head
NEWARK, Del., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- University of Delaware Defensive Coordinator Rob Neviaser resigned Tuesday effective immediately.
The university said Neviaser was charged by Wilmington police in an alcohol-related incident. The Wilmington News-Journal reported he agreed after he was charged several years ago for driving under the influence that any new infraction would be grounds for termination.
"This is an unfortunate situation," coach K.C. Keeler said. "Rob is a great person and an outstanding coach and we hope that he gets his things in order and can move past this. We wish him the best."
Neviaser, who is also the defensive line coach, came to Delaware from Yale five years ago. Nick Rapone, first-year secondary coach, will take over Neviaser's position while the university seeks a permanent replacement.
Delaware plays its season opener on Saturday against West Chester University.
Barbaro continues to recover
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro showed progress Tuesday from the injury he suffered in the Preakness and laminitis, University of Pennsylvania vets say.
The cast on Barbaro's right hind leg was changed last week.
"Barbaro is wearing the new cast satisfactorily," said Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at Penn's New Bolton Center. "We continue to monitor him closely, and depending on how he progresses, we may change it again within the next two weeks."
After Barbaro won this year's Derby, the 3-year-old's racing career ended abruptly when he was injured in the Preakness.
Richardson said Barbaro has a good appetite and seems happy. His owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, have said they plan to continue treating Barbaro as long as he seems reasonably comfortable.
Player talks about provoking Zidane
ROME, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- It was a sister slur that provoked France's captain Zinedine Zidane to head butt Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final, the Italian player has disclosed.
Revealing it for the first time since the incident that led to Zidane being sent off, Materazzi told the Gazzetta dello Sport he made mention of Zidane's sister, Sky News reports.
The Italian defender said he made the remark after tugging at Zidane's shirt.
"It's not a particularly nice thing to say, I recognize that. But loads of players say worse things.
"I didn't even know he had a sister before all this happened."
Zidane, who has retired from football, has never disclosed exactly what Materazzi said to him that led to the head butt. He too has not apologized to his opponent, the report said.
