In Brief

TENNIS

Americans Isner, Young fall in Legg Mason semifinals

Top-seeded Gael Monfils beat No. 11 John Isner 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in a rain-delayed match Saturday night to advance to the finals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.

Monfils will meet Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic today. Stepanek defeated Donald Young, 6-3, 6-3.

Monfils, a Frenchman ranked seventh in the world, won the tiebreaker when the 6-foot-9-inch Isner hit a forehand into the net.

Isner staved off two match points in the 10th game of the third set. On the second, Monfils felt Isner's serve was wide, but the replay machine failed to operate and the call stood.

The start of the match was delayed nearly two hours. There were two lengthy rain delays, and the match finally ended at 1:15 a.m.

Young, a 22-year-old American, had won four straight matches for the first time in his career in reaching his first ATP semifinal.

The 32-year-old Stepanek broke Young in the fifth and ninth games of the first set, and in the second game of the second set. Stepanek won the second set's first nine points and held service in the third game, when he staved off Young's only two break points.

Also: Vera Zvonareva of Russia won the first four games of the third set, then held on for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Calif.

The top-seeded and third-ranked Zvonareva, who won a hardcourt event last week in Azerbaijan, will play Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the finals. Radwanska beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Zvonareva raised her game substantially as she won the first four games of the third set after losing a tough first set, then needing seven set points to finish off the second.

But trailing 5-1 in the third, Ivanovic came back to win three straight games and force Zvonareva to serve for the match. The Russian, who had a match point on her serve at 5-3, finally closed the match when Ivanovic netted a forehand.

SWIMMING

Hansen caps comeback debut with 200 breaststroke victory

Brendan Hansen won the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. national championships in Stanford, Calif., completing a sweep of the breaststroke events in his comeback from a three-year retirement.

The 29-year-old former world-record holder easily won in 2 minutes, 10.59 seconds -- beating Eric Friedland by 2.32 seconds. Hansen's time was just outside the top 10 fastest in the world this year. Friedland touched at 2:12.91. Clark Burckle and Sean Mahoney tied for third at 2:13.08.

Hansen won the 100 breaststroke Tuesday with the world's eighth-quickest time this year.

Missy Franklin won the 100 freestyle with the world's fifth-fastest time against a field that included three Olympians with the world's fifth-fastest time.

Franklin, the 16-year-old phenom who won three gold medals at the recent world championships in China, won in 53.63 seconds, a time that would have earned her a bronze medal in the event at Shanghai. She also set a national 15-16 age-group record.

It was Franklin's second national title; she won the 100 backstroke earlier in the meet.

MISCELLANEOUS

Silverado Little League squad wins West Regional opener

Mikey Ruiz delivered a two-run single to highlight a six-run first inning as Silverado opened pool play in the Little League West Regional in San Bernardino, Calif., with an 8-3 victory over Washington, Utah (1-1).

Cade Adams struck out 10 over 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win for Silverado, which will next play Red Bluff, the Northern California representative, at 2 p.m. today.

Omar Ortiz Jr. and Chris Turner had two hits each for Silverado, which finished with nine hits.

Also: Carmelita Jeter and Walter Dix won the sprints, Sanya Richards-Ross captured the 400, and triple jumper Christian Taylor upset the world champion in a strong showing by Americans at the Crystal Palace Diamond League meet in London.

U.S. champion Taylor recorded a leap of 58 feet, ¼ inch, with reigning world champ Phillips Idowu's best of 56 feet only good enough for third behind Tosin Oke of Nigeria.

Richards-Ross returned to form in the 400 meters after missing last season because of abdominal injuries. She clocked a season-best time of 49.66 seconds for her first international victory since 2009.

Jeter took the women's 100 in 10.93 seconds to underline her status as favorite at the world championships. Olympic bronze medalist Dix staked his claim as the main threat to Usain Bolt in the 200 at the worlds, winning in 20.16.