Serena Williams retained the No. 1 ranking by beating her sister in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Williams defeated older sister Venus, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in their 20th showdown. Each has won 10 times. Her opponent Saturday will be Victoria Azarenka, 19, of Belarus, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. In the men's quarterfinals, No. 6 seed Juan Martin del Potro upset top-ranked Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
66 gives Lincicome 1-shot lead at Kraft
golf
Brittany Lincicome shot a 6-under-par 66 to take the lead after the first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Angela Stanford was one stroke back, tied with Ji Young Oh and Brittany Lang in the first major of the LPGA season. Defending champion Lorena Ochoa got off to an uncharacteristically poor start with a 1-over 73. Michelle Wie finished in 18th place with a 1-under 71.
PGA Shell Houston Open: : The first round was suspended because of high winds. It will resume Friday.
Bowie State names Wilson football coach
et cetera
Former Bowie State tight end Damon Wilson was hired as the Bulldogs' football coach. Wilson was the special teams and running backs coach at Bowie State in 2007 and the running backs coach at Prairie View A&M in 2008. Wilson, who was an assistant at Texas Southern from 2004 to 2007 after a four-year stint as an assistant with the Bulldogs, earned All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors in 1997-98.
Varsity: : Owen Daly was named varsity basketball coach at Gilman. Daly spent this past season as a varsity assistant at Gilman and the previous season as the Greyhounds' freshman-sophomore coach, leading that team to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title game.
Baseball: : Sitting in new Yankee Stadium on the first day fans came to the $1.5 billion ballpark, general partner Hal Steinbrenner acknowledged that some tickets might be overpriced given the recession but insisted the team read the market correctly for most of them. The team moved into its new digs Thursday, working out before a dazzled crowd of 20,070. ... Twins right-hander Scott Baker was put on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder stiffness and will miss his scheduled Opening Day start. Left-hander Francisco Liriano will take the mound. The Twins also put catcher Joe Mauer (back) on the DL, as expected. ... Right-hander Huston Street was named the Rockies' closer. ... The Nationals placed first baseman Dmitri Young (hip, back) on the 15-day DL. ... Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was sidelined for the third straight day with fatigue. ... Outfielder Andruw Jones earned the Rangers' final roster spot.
