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Sports Briefs: French Open announces draw
Saturday, May 26, 2007

Back at Roland Garros for the first time in three years, Serena Williams was hardly in the mood for nostalgia yesterday.

A couple of hours after the French Open draw set up a potential quarterfinal between former No. 1 Williams and current No. 1 Justine Henin -- in what would be a rematch of their contentious 2003 meeting in Paris -- the American was looking ahead.

"Well, right now, I think the French Open is my No. 1 priority," Williams said.

Her older sister, Venus, is on the same half of the draw and could be a semifinal opponent for the Williams-Henin winner.

The other quarterfinals could be No. 2 Maria Sharapova vs. No. 5 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. No. 7 Ana Ivanovic, and No. 4 Jelena Jankovic vs. No. 6 Nicole Vaidisova.

The possible men's matchups in the round of eight are No. 1 Roger Federer vs. No. 7 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 8 James Blake, No. 3 Andy Roddick vs. No. 6 Novak Djokovic, and No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko vs. No. 5 Fernando Gonzalez.

Pro football

The prosecutor in the investigation of a possible dog fighting operation at a house owned by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is confident charges will be brought. He can't yet say who will be charged.

College basketball

Scott Grote, a 6-foot-6 forward who averaged 9.9 points this season as a freshman, received his release from Duquesne so he can transfer to another school. It's likely he will transfer to Wright State, which is near his hometown of Centerville, Ohio.

Brandon Rush, who led Kansas in scoring last year, has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will play his junior season at the school.

The NCAA approved moving the men's 3-point line back a foot in 2008 -- from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches. The decision by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel marks the first major alteration to the 3-point shot since its adoption in 1986-87.

Baseball

Penn State defeated Michigan, 6-5, in 10 innings and Illinois, 6-2, in elimination games at the Big Ten Conference championship in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Nittany Lions (31-25), Minnesota and Ohio State are the only teams remaining in the event.

Cycling

Bjarne Riis became the first Tour de France winner to admit using performance-enhancing drugs to win the race, further eroding cycling's credibility after a series of doping confessions. His admission means the top three finishers in the 1996 Tour have been linked to doping -- and two have admitted cheating.

Wrestling

Twelve current or former members of Penn State's team have been disciplined by the university after a school investigation into alleged hazing and underage drinking.

Golf

Thiel College in Greenville, Pa., will reinstate the men's and women's programs in the fall.

Kelly Jo Dowd, a cancer-stricken mother whose dream of seeing her teen daughter Dakoda play in an LPGA event was realized last year, died in Palm Harbor, Fla. She was 42.

First published on May 25, 2007 at 11:06 pm