Tennis

Henman to retire after Davis Cup

Tim Henman will play one last time at Wimbledon, but it won't be next summer.

The British tennis star will play his final Grand Slam at the U.S. Open and then retire in September after the Davis Cup playoff at the All England Club.

The 32-year-old Henman, who reached four Wimbledon semifinals and never won a Grand Slam title in his 14-year career, cited a sore back and bad knee Thursday for his decision to call it quits.

Henman is unseeded going into the U.S. Open, which begins Monday. He is scheduled to play for Britain against Croatia for a spot in the Davis Cup World Group.

Blake reaches semifinals at Pilot Pen: James Blake fought off three consecutive match points before beating Agustin Calleri 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 to win an afternoon match, then won again later that night to advance to the semifinals of the Pilot Pen at New Haven, Conn.

Blake, from nearby Fairfied, considers the Connecticut Tennis Center his home court and won the U.S. Open warmup in 2005. He beat Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko, No. 2 Tommy Robredo and No. 4 seed David Ferrer all fell early in the day.

Blake joined his best friend on tour, Mardy Fish, as Americans in today's semis. Fish beat Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 in his first match, before taking out Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Williams sisters to play on U.S. Open's first night after Gibson tribute: Serena Williams was the first black woman since Althea Gibson to win the U.S. Open. Venus Williams was the first black woman since Gibson to win Wimbledon.

Fittingly, both of the Williams sisters' first-round matches at this year's U.S. Open have been scheduled for Monday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium — right after a tribute marking the 50th anniversary of Gibson's first Grand Slam singles title.

The No. 8-seeded Serena Williams will play Angelique Kerber of Germany, while No. 12 Venus Williams was drawn to face a qualifier.

College Football

South Carolina suspends three

South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell was one of three players suspended for the opening game against Louisiana-Lafayette for missing summer school classes.

Steve Fink, a spokesman for the athletic department, said Mitchell, tailback Bobby Wallace and cornerback Chris Hail were suspended for the Gamecocks' home opener Sept. 1. The three players also were suspended from the team's first two practices this fall for missing classes.

College Basketball

USC to play exhibition in Mexico

O.J. Mayo will be showcasing his skills in Mexico when USC basketball team plays two exhibition games there in September.

The Trojans and their highly touted freshman recruit will play doubleheaders in Mazatlan on Sept. 1-2 against Lobos Grises de Durango and Caballeros de Sinaloa.

Mayo and the rest of the freshmen are scheduled to start practice Aug. 27, when classes begin.

Track and Field

IAAF wants tougher sanctions

The IAAF world athletics federation called on the World Anti-Doping Agency to impose tougher sanctions for drug offenders, including four-year bans for serious first-time infractions.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said he would not hesitate to seek such four-year terms for his federation alone if he considered some first-time infractions so blatant they needed a stronger approach.

Pro Basketball

Sonics co-owner fined $250,000

The NBA fined SuperSonics co-owner Aubrey McClendon $250,000 two weeks after he said his group didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle.

The league confirmed the penalty, and spokesman Tim Frank said the NBA would have no further comment. The comments of McClendon, an Oklahoma City energy tycoon, were at odds with commissioner David Stern's stated hope of keeping the Sonics in the city they've called home for all 40 years of their existence.