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Federer, Roddick reach Wimbledon finals

LONDON, July 3 (UPI) -- Roger Federer, reaching his record seventh consecutive Wimbledon final, will go against Andy Roddick for the highest-profile championship in tennis.

Federer, seeded second, defeated 24th-seeded Tommy Haas 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-3 Friday to reach his 20th career Grand Slam final. He is 14-5 in those matches.

That includes a 2-0 record in Wimbledon finals against Roddick, who got by third-seeded Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5) in his semifinal. Federer is 18-2 overall against the sixth-seeded American.

Sunday will mark the fourth Grand Slam final for Roddick, who won the U.S. Open in 2003.

Roddick won two more points -- 143-141 -- than Murray over the more than 3-hour match. Each player had two service breaks, including trading breaks in the third set.

Roddick was able to get a mini-break to go up 3-1 in the tiebreaker and moved to match point by surviving a long rally. Murray, serving, staved off the first match point but a Roddick forehand was deep enough to make Murray's return go into the net to end the match.

Federer's victory over Haas was workmanlike. He didn't face a break point and had 49 winners against 15 unforced errors. Aside from the tiebreaker, Haas played Federer even until the 12th game of the second set when a long Haas forehand gave Federer the first break of the match.

Federer had one unforced error in the third set and lost two points on serve before putting the match away with an overhead smash.

Federer's 14 Grand Slam titles include five consecutive at Wimbledon from 2003-07. A win Sunday would give him a record 15 major tournament titles.

Big tiebreaker ahead for Williams sisters

LONDON, July 3 (UPI) -- Venus and Serena Williams have the biggest stage in tennis to break their head-to-head tie as they meet Saturday in Wimbledon's women's title match.

It will be the eighth time the sisters meet in the finals of a Grand Slam event, where Serena owns a 5-2 match advantage. However, over their careers, the Williams sisters are 10-10 against each other. They have evenly split their four Wimbledon meetings.

Venus, ranked No. 3 in the world, is the two-time defending champion at Wimbledon and is seeking her sixth Wimbledon title overall. She has won her last 20 matches in tennis' most famous tournament. She owns seven Grand Slam titles.

Serena's record at Wimbledon in the last three years is 16-2, including a 7-5, 6-4 loss last year to Venus in the finals. The world's No. 2 has two Wimbledon championships (2002, 2003) among her 10 major titles.

Since Venus won a meeting in the 2005 U.S. Open, the sisters have alternated winning each meeting. Five of their last six meetings have gone three sets.

Both have played well at Wimbledon. Venus' semifinal was a total rout of world No. 1 Dinara Safina. Serena had little trouble until facing fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the semis.

Report: Baseball makes loan to Texas owner

ARLINGTON, Texas, July 3 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball has loaned cash-strapped Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks millions to stay afloat, unnamed sources told Yahoo! Sports.

A major league source said baseball will continue to offer financial assistance until Hicks is able to sell the American League franchise.

The source confirmed the team met payroll and the club is maintaining normal business operations, although the team reduced its front office staff by 10 percent this season.

The Hicks Sports Group defaulted on an interest-only payment on a $525 million loan to his sports operation and a recent caller to an XM/Sirius radio show said he heard Hicks had borrowed $15 million from MLB when he had not made payroll.

"He won't be running the team much longer," the source told Yahoo! Sports Thursday. "Major League Baseball is helping him through this until someone else can be put in place to run the club."

Neither MLB nor the Rangers would comment.

Report: Trevor Ariza signs with Houston

HOUSTON, July 3 (UPI) -- Free agent forward Trevor Ariza of the LA Lakers has signed a contract with the Rockets, swapping places with forward Ron Artest, the Houston Chronicle said.

Citing an unidentified source, the newspaper said the 6-foot-8 Ariza, 24, signed a five-year, $33 million deal late Thursday.

The 6-foot-7 inch Artest, 29, had told ESPN Thursday he has reached a verbal agreement with the Lakers and will play for the mid-level exception, roughly $18 million for three years.

Artest added the Lakers jumped at the chance to give him a multiyear deal when Houston offered him only a one-year contract.

"The Lakers really made me feel wanted," Artest said. "I look forward to helping the Lakers defend their championship."

Ariza was a key player in the post-season for the Lakers, averaging 11.3 points in 23 playoff games to help LA win its 15th NBA title.

NASCAR names Hall of Fame finalists

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 3 (UPI) -- Lee Petty and son Richard are among 25 finalists named for the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class in 2010.

Five inductees for the hall's first class will be selected by a voting panel made up of NASCAR members, manufacturer representatives, former competitors, the media and fans. Voting ends Sept. 15, with the results to be announced in October and the finalists honored next May when the hall is scheduled to open in Charlotte, N.C.

Among other finalists, announced Thursday in Charlotte are drivers Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison, owners Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick, NASCAR founder William H.G. France and his son, former NASCAR president Bill France Jr.

"I've said all along that race fans are what drive this sport and having them involved in the voting process is great," Childress said in a statement Friday. "I enjoy spending time with the fans and I encourage them to go online and vote."

Lee Petty was the first Daytona 500 winner in 1959 and was a three-time points champion before retiring in 1964.

Richard Petty, the owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, won 200 races, 123 poles and tied for most championships (seven).