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Federer, Nadal appear on collision course

WIMBLEDON, England, July 2 (UPI) -- Top-ranked Roger Federer and world No. 2 Rafael Nadal continued on their apparent head-on course with quarterfinals wins Wednesday at Wimbledon.

Federer took out Mario Ancic 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in a rain-spattered match while Nadal dispatched 12th-seeded Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 and earned slots in Friday's men's semifinals. Should they win then, Federer and Nadal, who have played in the last two Wimbledon title matches, would meet Sunday with another Grand Slam crown at stake.

They are both playing as lofty as their rankings. They have lost just one set between them during The Championships and on Wednesday neither faced a break point. Federer allowed Ancic just 10 points on his serve and Nadal limited Murray to 11 points while he was serving.

Federer's semifinal opponent will be unseeded Marat Safin, who on Wednesday knocked off his fourth seeded opponent of the tournament with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 win over No. 31st-seeded Feliciano Lopez. Among Safin's earlier victims was world No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Federer is 8-2 lifetime against Safin.

Nadal takes on the winner of the Rainer Schuettler-Arnaud Clement match in the final four. German Schuettler and Frenchman Clement, both non-seeds, were tied at a set apiece, 6-3, 5-7, when play was suspended until Thursday. Officials decided the match was not going to finish Wednesday evening because of darkness.

Report: Info given on Paterno successor

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., July 2 (UPI) -- Penn State football recruits are being given details about the successor of long-time Nittany Lion Coach Joe Paterno, a player said.

The Altoona (Pa.) Mirror report said that players recruited this year are being assured that when Paterno retires, his replacement will come from the current coaching staff rather than an outside hire.

"Mr. Paterno told me himself that his replacement is already within the staff, so he'll just bring one new guy in and bump everybody up in the ranks," linebacker Mike Yancich from Washington, Pa., told the newspaper.

"They tell the recruits that the next coach will come from within and the program won't change while they're there," said recruiting reporter Cory James of Fightonstate.com.

Paterno, 81, enters his 43rd season at the helm of Penn State football when the 2008 season opens Aug. 30 against Coastal Carolina.

His 372 victories rank him second all-time, one short to Florida State's Bobby Bowden.

Wimbledon semifinals are Williams affair

WIMBLEDON, England, July 2 (UPI) -- Serena and Venus Williams head to Wimbledon's Center Court in separate semifinals Thursday with an eye on meeting there again in the finals.

Venus Williams, the tournament's defending champion and seeded seventh this year, takes on No. 5-seeded Elena Dementieva in one semifinal while Serena Williams, the No. 6 seed, faces surprising wild-card entrant Jie Zheng.

The Williams sisters have been the most consistent players in the women's half of the draw. Neither has lost a set in the tournament.

Venus Williams and Dementieva take the court first Thursday. Williams is 5-2 against Dementieva in her career, including a win in the Gold Medal match at the 2000 Olympics. Dementieva is appearing in her first Wimbledon semifinal while Williams is 6-0 in The Championships' semis and owns four Wimbledon titles.

The two finals she lost were to her sister. Serena Williams defeated Venus in 2002 and 2003 for title at Wimbledon. Serena was also the runner-up in 2004.

She has played Zheng once, beating her in the first round of the 2004 Wimbledon tournament.

Zheng is the first Chinese player to make it to the semifinals of a Grand Slam event and the first wild-card entrant to makes Wimbledon's semis. If she wins Thursday, she would be playing for the Wimbledon title Saturday, her 25th birthday.

Spain moves to top of FIFA world rankings

NYON, Switzerland, July 2 (UPI) -- Spain, which just won Euro 2008, has moved to the top spot of the FIFA men's world soccer rankings for the first time.

Spain finished off its Euro 2008 run with a 1-0 victory Sunday over Germany and moved from fourth to No. 1 in the July edition of the world rankings, released by FIFA Wednesday.

European teams, taking advantage of the high-profile tournament moved up nicely in the rankings. The FIFA rankings consider results from the last three years but more recent matches, especially against strong opponents, are weighted heavier.

As a result, Italy went from third to second while Germany moved up two spots to third and the Netherlands, which beat Italy in the Euro 2008 tournament, went from 10th to fifth.

Brazil slipped from second to fourth and Argentina, last month's No. 1, fell to sixth. Argentina had held the rankings' top spot since last October.

Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal and France, in order, completed the Top 10. They all played in Euro 2008.

Spain is the sixth team to reach No. 1 in the FIFA men's rankings, joining Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Italy.

IOC increases anti-doping program

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 2 (UPI) -- The International Olympic Committee said the Summer Games in Beijing would feature the movement's most extensive anti-doping effort.

The IOC, in a release Wednesday, said it will administer about 4,500 tests for banned substances. That represents a 25 percent increase over the number of tests conducted in 2004 and about 90 percent more than in the 2000 Games.

"At the International Olympic Committee, we are at the forefront of the effort to eradicate doping," IOC President Jacques Rogge said.

"Most athletes compete honestly and fairly. They treasure the Olympic experience. We owe it to these athletes -- who train so hard -- to ensure the Games are as free of prohibited drugs as possible."

From July 27-Aug. 24, the IOC said it "will test the competitors at any time and at any place," including away from Olympic venues.

Athletes found to have used banned substances will also face increased penalties, the IOC said, including a ban on the next Olympic Games.