IN BRIEF

TENNIS

Venus falls to Jankovic in Porsche semifinals

Venus Williams lost 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-2 Saturday to soon-to-be No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, who overcame a foot injury to advance to the final of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

Jankovic will play Nadia Petrova today for the title. Petrova beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Top-ranked Serena Williams lost this past week and will drop behind Jankovic in the rankings Monday.

"She played well, and I made too many errors," Venus Williams said. "But I played some good points, too. It was a good competition."

Jankovic broke a toenail on her left foot and needed two painkiller shots before taking the court.

"I was really fortunate to play," Jankovic said. "I got two injections, they hurt so much I was screaming."

Jankovic will be aiming for her second tournament title in two weeks. She is coming off a win at the China Open.

Also: Andy Roddick was upset by Tomas Berdych 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo, ending his bid for a second straight title in Asia.

The ninth-seeded Berdych will face fifth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in today's final. Del Potro defeated No. 4 Richard Gasquet 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the other semifinal.

Roddick, coming off a win at the China Open last week, broke Berdych to take a 2-0 lead in the final set and looked set for another trip to the finals after building a 5-2 lead.

After holding serve in the eighth game, Berdych broke Roddick with a crosscourt forehand to close the gap to 5-4 before sending the final set into a tiebreaker, which he won with an ace.

Dmitry Tursunov advanced to the Open de Moselle final in Metz, France, using his powerful serve to beat Radek Stepanek, 6-3, 6-4.

The fifth-seeded Russian will face fourth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (1).

GOLF

Creamer surges to lead in LPGA tournament

Paula Creamer birdied the final three holes for a 4-under-par 68 and a one-stroke lead over Angela Stanford after the third round of the Samsung World Championship in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Playing near her hometown of Pleasanton, Creamer had a 6-under 210 total.

Stanford led for much of the day but hurt herself with two double bogeys on the back nine. She birdied the final two holes for a 69.

Two-time defending Samsung champion Lorena Ochoa shot 70, leaving her in a group two strokes back. Annika Sorenstam (75) was 11 shots back at 5-over 221, 16th in the 20-player event.

Former Bishop Gorman High School star Inbee Park (74) was at 222.

Also: Tag Ridings missed a short par putt on the final hole to fall into a tie with Charles Howell III for the third-round lead in the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, N.Y.

Ridings (71), winless in 130 starts on the PGA Tour, finished with a 1-under 71 to match Howell (69) at 8-under 208.

Jeff Overton (73), who led both the first and second rounds by one shot, was tied for third at 7 under with Brian Davis (69), Jason Day (71) and Kyle Thompson (69).

Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin shot par 72, and Germany's Martin Kaymer shot 73 to share the third-round lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Sandelin and Kaymer had 6-under 210 totals.

South Korea's Kim Wi-joong shot 2-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea.

Kim had a 10-under 203 total. American Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim (67), Englishman Ian Poulter (69) and South Koreans Bae Sang-moon (67) and Kim Dae-sub (69) were tied for second.

MISCELLANEOUS

Former USC QB Fertig dies of kidney failure

Craig Fertig, the record-setting quarterback for Southern California who later became the Trojans' TV voice, has died. He was 66.

Fertig died Saturday of kidney failure at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Calif., USC athletic director Mike Garrett said.

Fertig was a teammate of Garrett's in 1963 and 1964, when the quarterback set eight USC passing records. Fertig was also a member of USC's 1962 national championship team.

Fertig is remembered for throwing the winning touchdown in the final two minutes of the 1964 game against Notre Dame to lead USC back from a 17-point halftime deficit and upset the unbeaten, top-ranked Irish.

He helped USC to two national titles and six championship games as an assistant coach to John McKay from 1965 to 1973.

Also: Arthur Abraham's defense of his IBF middleweight title against Raul Marquez, which was to be fought Saturday in Bamberg, Germany, was postponed because the champion came down with the flu.

The fight was rescheduled for Nov. 8 in Bamberg.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed first-round draft pick Zach Boychuk to a three-year entry contract worth more than $2.6 million at the NHL level.

Boychuk will make $787,500 per season in the NHL or $65,000 at the minor league level. He also received a $262,500 signing bonus.

The Hurricanes took the 19-year-old center with the 14th overall pick in the June draft.