TENNIS

Ferrer, Nadal advance to Masters Cup semifinals

Sixth-ranked David Ferrer dominated No. 8 Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 Thursday at Shanghai, China, to reach the Masters Cup semifinals, and helped friend and fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal along with him.

Ferrer's easy 59-minute victory also allowed No. 2-ranked Nadal to advance from the Gold Group of the round-robin phase by eliminating Gasquet. Nadal earlier beat No. 3 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in a match between players tired from a long season. He finished 2-1 in round-robin play.

Ferrer won his group by taking all three of his matches while dropping only one set, to Nadal. Today, top-ranked Roger Federer will seek a semifinal place when he faces No. 5 Andy Roddick, who already has clinched his semifinals berth.

OLYMPICS

Marion Jones' gold medal spot might be left vacant

Future record books may show there was no winner of the women's 100 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

IOC officials said they are considering the unprecedented step of leaving the gold-medal spot vacant following Marion Jones' confession that she used performance-enhancing drugs.

Although the original second-place finisher normally would be upgraded to the gold, the International Olympic Committee is reluctant to give the medal to Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou because she was caught up in a doping scandal at the 2004 Athens Games.

SOCCER

D.C. United's Emilio captures MVP in MLS

D.C. United forward Luciano Emilio was voted MVP of Major League Soccer after a season in which he became the league's first 20-goal scorer in five years.

The 28-year-old Brazilian finished ahead of Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls and Cuauhtemoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire in voting by coaches, general managers, players and media.

All three finalists were foreign players new to the league, but Emilio was the only one not signed under the new designated player rule — known as the "Beckham rule" after English superstar David Beckham — that allows teams to ignore the salary cap to pursue up to two high-profile players.

GOLF

Late collapse costs Ochoa at ADT Championship

Lorena Ochoa was in the lead and hitting her stride at the ADT Championship until a shocking finish to her round. She hit two balls into the water on the 17th hole for a quadruple bogey that sent her tumbling down the leaderboard.

"I was worried I was going to run out of balls," she said with a laugh.

That would have been her only serious concern.

All that mattered on the first day of golf's most peculiar tournament was not shooting themselves out of the 32-player event.

Christina Kim and Mi Hyun Kim will go in the books as co-leaders after both turned in bogey-free rounds of 5-under 67 on a breezy day at at West Palm Beach, Fla., one shot ahead of Juli Inkster and Paula Creamer.

Choi leads Hong Kong Open: South Korea's K.J. Choi shot an 8-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Wales' Garry Houston after the first round of the Hong Kong Open.

Poulter tied for Dunlop Phoenix lead: England's Ian Poulter shot a 5-under 65 for a share of the first-round lead in the Japan Golf Tour's Dunlop Phoenix at Miyazaki, Japan.

Sutherland grabs four-stroke lead in Pebble Beach Invitational: Kevin Sutherland shot a 10-under 62 to take a four-stroke lead over Rocco Mediate and Joel Kribel after the first round of the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.

JURISPRUDENCE

Former Indy 500 driver Walther sentenced for chase

Former Indianapolis 500 driver David D. "Salt" Walther was sentenced to three years in prison for leading police on a chase at speeds of up 100 mph.

Greene County Common Pleas Court Judge Stephen Wolaver sentenced the 59-year-old Walther after a jury convicted him of failing to comply with an order or signal of a police officer after a two-day trial.