SPORTS BRIEFLY

Share this: Email | Facebook | X

Fish beats del Potro, makes quarters

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) - On the verge of victory, Mardy Fish took a lusty swing and staggered out of the follow-through, his left calf cramping and his ability to continue in doubt.

Three points later he limped into the quarterfinals, the last American standing at the Sony Ericsson Open. A gimpy Fish whacked a service winner on match point to win a grueling duel against Juan Martin del Potro, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

Fish is the lone U.S. player among the 16 men and women in the quarterfinals. At 29, he'll overtake Andy Roddick and become the top-ranked American man for the first time if he defeats No. 6 David Ferrer on Wednesday.

"Being the No. 1 American would be something that would be pretty cool to tell my kids about," said Fish, who is married but not yet a dad.

Working mom Kim Clijsters overcame five match points to beat No. 19-seeded Ana Ivanovic, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5). Clijsters, the tournament champion in 2005 and again last year, was serving at 1-5, love-40 when her comeback begin.


Texas A&M beats Baylor for Final Four

(AP) - Sydney Carter scored 22 points and Texas A&M finally beat Baylor, 58-46 on Tuesday night to send the Aggies to their first Final Four in school history.

Texas A&M (31-5) had lost eight straight games against its Big 12 rival, including the previous three this season.

When it counted most, the Aggies scored the first seven points in the Dallas Regional championship and led throughout the game.

Connecticut 75, Duke 40

Maya Moore scored 28 points, including the 3,000th of her career, to lead top-seed Connecticut to a 75-40 win over Duke on Tuesday night and another trip to the Final Four.

UConn is now two victories away from winning its third straight national championship that would match the school's own run from 2002-04 and Tennessee's from 1996-98.

Next up is Notre Dame on Sunday in the national semifinals. The two Big East teams are plenty familiar with each other, having played three times this season already.