Verdasco downs Tsonga in Aussie quarters
MELBOURNE, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Fernando Verdasco reached the Australian Open semifinals Wednesday with a four-set win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth seed.
Tsonga was a finalist in 2008, and this year, lost to the 14th-seeded Verdasco 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 2-6 in the quarterfinals at Rod Laver Arena.
Verdasco advanced to his first semifinal at a Grand Slam tournament despite a temperature of 105 degrees, causing scorching and dangerous conditions outside Melbourne Park
Also Wednesday, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal beat sixth-seeded Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5, and plays Tsonga in a semifinal Friday.
It will be the first time that players from Spain face each other in an Australian open semifinal.
"(Wednesday) was very tough," said Nadal, the only men's player who has not lost a set at this year's tournament. "I don't know how I won, really. Gilles is a very good player. He beat me in Madrid but I knew I was playing better here. It will be incredible to play Fernando in the semifinal and we're guaranteed a Spaniard in the final."
The first men's semifinal on Thursday matches former top-ranked players second-seeded Roger Federer and No. 7 Andy Roddick.
Federer holds a 15-2 lifetime advantage against the American, 6-0 at Grand Slams, including a 2007 Australian Open semifinal victory.
Williams, Dementieva reach Aussie semis
MELBOURNE, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A little shade seemed to help Serena Williams rally to a quarterfinal win in the 2009 Australian Open Wednesday and Elena Dementieva also reached the semis.
Williams, seeded second and hunting for her fourth Aussie Open title, lost the first set to eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7 as the temperature hit 105 degrees -- 130 on the court. But the roof was closed for the final two sets and she battled back 7-5, 6-1 to snatch the match away from Kuznetsova after the 27-minute delay.
Dementieva played earlier and had little trouble dispatching Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in 95 minutes to advance to the next level against Willaims.
Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia was a 6-2, 6-2 winner against unseeded Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain, who went 0-for-10 on break-point opportunities.
Dementieva overcame 10 double faults to reach her first-ever Australian Open semifinal.
She captured the match after winning 16 of the first 18 points for a 4-0 lead, and rose to 15-0 this season, including back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney.
Thursday, she will play Williams in her third straight Grand Slam semi.
Dementieva has won their last three meetings, including the Olympic quarterfinals.
Bobby Bowden signs one-year extension
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Longtime Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden has signed a one-year contract extension with the ACC school through the 2009 season.
The 79-year-old Bowden is the second-winningest coach in major college football history, one victory behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.
"I am glad to get it signed, up for another year like I said I would do after each year," he said on the school's Web site Wednesday. "I appreciate the university's support. We are busy recruiting and looking forward to next season."
His record in 33 seasons in Tallahassee is 309-91-4 with two national championships, and the nation's longest active bowl appearance streak at 27.
Next season, he will be paid just under $2.5 million, the same as 2008.
In 43 years as a college football head coach, Bowden's career record is 382-123-4, including 42-26 at West Virginia from 1970-75, and 31-6 at Samford University, his alma mater, from 1959-1962.
Red Wings give Zetterberg 12-year contract
DETROIT, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The Detroit Red Wings have signed star forward Henrik Zetterberg to a 12-year contract, the team announced Wednesday.
The native of Njurunda, Sweden, is in his sixth NHL season. His contract, the longest ever in the National Hockey League, runs through 2021.
"Henrik is one of the world's premier players at both ends of the ice," Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland said. "This is a tremendous commitment on the part of the organization as well as by Henrik. We feel he is moving into the prime of his career and is another key to ensuring the long-term success of this franchise. We are thrilled that a player we drafted and developed will play out his career in Detroit with this lifetime contract."
To date this season, Zetterberg has compiled 43 points (17 goals and 26 assists) in 45 games.
In the 2007-08 season, he had 92 points (43 goals, 49 assists) and was a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, won by teammate Pavel Datsyuk. The award is presented to the outstanding defensive player in the NHL.
Montgomerie is European Ryder Cup captain
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Scotland's Colin Montgomerie has been chosen captain of the 2010 European Ryder Cup golf team.
The selection was announced Wednesday at a news conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- the site of this week's Dubai Desert Classic on the European golf tour, which starts Thursday -- by Thomas Bjorn, chairman of Europe's 15-man Ryder Cup tournament committee.
The BBC said Montgomerie was chosen ahead of 2008 vice-captain Jose Maria Olazabal, with England's Sandy Lyle and 2006 captain Ian Woosnam of Wales also believed to be in the running.
"This is obviously one of my proudest moments," Montgomerie said. "It's not just an honor but a huge responsibility as well. It is important we do everything we can to claim back the Ryder Cup in Wales in 2010."
Corey Pavin is captain of the United States team.
The event will be held Oct. 1-3, 2010, at Newport, Wales.
