Former New York Yankees and San Diego Padres infielder Edwin Rodriguez has been hired as manager of the Class AAA New Orleans Zephyrs. Rodriguez, 48, becomes the eleventh manager for the Florida Marlins' affiliate. He spent the past two seasons managing the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers in the South Atlantic League.

Andy Murray defeated James Blake, 6-2, 6-2, to set up a semifinal meeting with Roger Federer at the inaugural Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In the other first-round match, Nikolay Davydenko ousted Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-4, and will face Rafael Nadal in the other semifinal today. Nadal and Federer received first-round byes in the exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour but features six of the world's top 10 players and offers a winner-take-all prize of $250,000.

Murray broke Blake in the third game and then took a 5-2 lead after using two forehand winners for another break. The struggling Blake was then broken twice in a row in the second set as Murray raced out to a 4-0 lead to take control of the match.

Roddick started by hitting three aces in his opening service game but was broken in the next after missing a forehand, which was enough to give Davydenko the set. Roddick then made two unforced errors in the fourth game of the second set to give Davydenko another break, and the Russian held his serve the rest of the way.

The top-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Federer will begin their 2009 ATP season by playing in the Qatar Open in Doha starting Monday. Murray, the defending champion, and Roddick are also playing in the tournament.

Sean Quigley of Philadelphia won the men's title and Aziza Aliyu of Ethiopia took the women's in the Midnight Run through a frigid Central Park in New York.

Quigley, a former All-American at La Salle, covered the 4-mile course in 18:45. Brian Olinger of Columbus, Ohio, was second in 18:53, followed by Abiyot Endale of Ethiopia in 18:59.

A field of about 4,000 competed in the event sponsored by the New York Road Runners. The temperature was 18 degrees when the race started and a 16-mph wind made the wind chill just 3 degrees.

Aliyu outkicked Emily Brown of Minneapolis by one second to finish in 21:21. Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia was third in 22:05.

Petter Northug of Norway won the men's sprint and Arianna Follis of Italy won the women's race in the fifth leg of the World Cup's annual Tour de Ski series in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic. Northug led a Norwegian double, edging Tor Arne Hetland in the 1.2-kilometer freestyle race.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt edged U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps in a vote for the 2008 athlete of the year by the international media. Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva took the top place as sportswoman of the year and Spain's soccer team was voted team of the year for winning the European Championship.