IN BRIEF

PRO BASKETBALL

Penny Hardaway signs to play with Shaq, Heat

Guard Penny Hardaway, who last played an NBA game in November 2005, signed with the Miami Heat on Thursday and is reuniting with center Shaquille O'Neal, his Orlando Magic teammate in the mid-1990s.

O'Neal, who occasionally has offered less-than-glowing comments about his time with Hardaway in Orlando, told the Heat he supports the move to sign Hardaway, 36.

Hardaway has averaged 15.4 points in his career but hasn't finished a season averaging in double figures since 2002-03 with Phoenix.

TENNIS

Federer makes quarters with 45-minute victory

Defending champion and top-seeded Roger Federer breezed past Italian qualifier Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1 in 45 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Federer will face Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated Dominik Hrbaty 6-7 (10), 7-6 (6), 7-5 in a match that lasted more than three hours.

Also advancing were second-seeded Rafael Nadal, No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 5 Andy Roddick.

Also: Top-seeded Maria Sharapova survived a nearly three-hour struggle against Michaella Krajicek, winning 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4 on her third match point to reach the quarterfinals of the East West Bank Classic in Carson, Calif.

No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic, No. 3 Ana Ivanovic and No. 4 Nadia Petrova also won. Defending champion Elena Dementieva advanced when No. 5 Daniela Hantuchova quit because of an upper respiratory illness while trailing, 6-3, 4-1.

MISCELLANEOUS

Sellout crowd watches Beckham's MLS debut

David Beckham finally made his Major League Soccer debut, playing the final 21 minutes in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 1-0 loss to D.C. United at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

The game was played in a downpour, but a sellout crowd of 46,686 still showed up to watch the 32-year-old English midfielder, who has been nursing a sprained left ankle.

Beckham didn't make much of an impact. He did try a free kick from 40 yards, serving it into the penalty area.

Also: Green Valley Little League lost 3-2 to Southern California representative Solana Beach in the semifinals of the West Regionals in San Bernardino, Calif.

Starting pitcher Alec Hutt homered to lead off the top of the sixth and final inning to close to within 3-2, and Green Valley then loaded the bases with no outs. But a player then hit into a double play, and the third out was recorded when a Green Valley player broke a Little League safety rule by diving headfirst into first base in an attempt to beat out a hit.

Phillip McGovern, who had five home runs in the team's four pool-play games, drove in Green Valley's other run with a first-inning single.

Alexis Thompson, 12, won two matches in Carmel, Ind., to become the youngest quarterfinalist in the 107-year history of the U.S. Women's Amateur golf tournament.

Thompson, of Coral Springs, Fla., also is the youngest qualifier in U.S. Women's Open history.

Henderson resident Jennie Lee, who plays for NCAA champion Duke, also won twice to advance to the quarterfinals. She will play teammate Amanda Blumenherst today.

Former WBA flyweight champion Eric Morel was released from a Madison, Wis., prison after serving time for sexually assaulting a drunken 15-year-old girl in 2002.

The University of Miami will be without starting linebacker Glenn Cook for at least the first three games of the season because of an injured foot that might require surgery.