IN BRIEF

TENNIS

Blake reaches semis; No. 3 seed Safin out

Second-seeded James Blake advanced to the semifinals of the ATP Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles on Friday with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Vincent Spadea.

Blake will play No. 7 Lee Hyung-taik in one semifinal match today. Lee eliminated No. 3 seed Marat Safin, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Nicolas Kiefer, of Germany, the 2004 runner-up, also advanced by beating countryman Michael Berrer, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Kiefer, a wild-card entrant playing his first hardcourt tournament in 16 months, will face Radek Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, in the other semifinal match. Stepanek defeated American wild card Zach Fleishman, 6-4, 6-2.

Blake is in the semifinals of a tournament for the fourth time this year. He didn't make it out of the second round in his two previous appearances at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.

Also: Top-seeded Rafael Nadal posted his 91st win in 92 matches on clay to reach the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Argentina's Juan Monaco.

The Spaniard played with his right knee taped but didn't seem bothered by an injury that flared up in his second-round match Thursday after first surfacing in the Wimbledon final against Roger Federer.

Nadal next faces his best friend on the tour, Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who upset sixth-seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

The second semifinal pits No. 7 seed Juan Ignacio Chela against Stanislas Wawrinka.

Second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny advanced to today's semifinals of the Dutch Open in Amersfoort, Netherlands, with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Evgeny Korolev.

Youzhny, the highest-ranked player left in the tourney, will meet Steve Darcis of Belgium in the semifinals. Darcis beat Igor Andreev, 6-3, 6-4.

Werner Eschauer of Austria upset third-seeded Carlos Moya 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 to claim a semifinal spot in an ATP tournament for the first time.

Eschauer will face the winner of a match between hometown favorite Robin Haase and Florent Serra of France that was postponed until today because of rain. Haase led 3-2 in the first set.

MISCELLANEOUS

Long Beach State aide takes over UNLV track

Yvonne Scott-Williams has been hired as UNLV's track and field coach.

Scott-Williams will begin her first head-coaching post after serving as the sprints and hurdles coach at Long Beach State for the past three years. At Long Beach State, she directed athletes who earned All-Big West Conference honors 29 times and broke 10 school records.

Scott-Williams replaces Barbara Ferrell-Edmonson, who resigned in May.

Also: Former New York Islanders captain Alexei Yashin will play next season with Locomotiv Yaroslavl of the Russian Super League after failing to get an NHL contract offer to his liking.

Yashin, who had the final four seasons of his 10-year contract bought out by the Islanders, agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Russian team he played with during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

The United States managed just four hits off Cuban ace Adiel Palma in a 3-1 loss in the gold medal contest of the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Americans took silver.

The 51s' opener of a four-game series at the Tacoma Rainiers was rained out. The teams will make up the game as part of a 6 p.m. doubleheader today.

Las Vegas has won nine straight games to improve to 47-51 in the Pacific Conference Southern Division.