IN BRIEF

TENNIS

Federer upended by Montanes
in Estoril Open semifinals

Roger Federer faltered in his tuneup for the French Open, losing to Albert Montanes of Spain 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Saturday at the Estoril Open semifinals in Oeiras, Portugal.

Montanes, seeded fourth and the defending champion, will play for the title today against Frederico Gil, who became the first Portuguese to reach the final after he upset fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Federer made 48 unforced errors, mostly on his backhand. The top-ranked Swiss was more consistent in the second set on a damp day following heavy rain, but he blew a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, with Montanes winning the last five points.

Federer entered the Estoril tournament for the first time to get more matches on clay, in preparation for his French Open title defense later this month. He lost his opening match to at the Rome Masters to 40th-ranked Ernests Gulbis and won only two matches at Estoril.

Also: Jelena Jankovic lost the Italian Open final to unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, falling 7-6 (5), 7-5 to the Spaniard's array of touch volleys and drop shots.

The seventh-ranked Serb beat hard-hitting Venus and Serena Williams in her previous two matches, but struggled against Martinez Sanchez's clay-court shotmaking.

Sam Querrey and John Isner won semifinal matches at the Serbia Open in Belgrade, Serbia, setting up the first all-American ATP clay-court final in Europe since Jim Courier defeated Andre Agassi for the 1991 French Open title.

Querrey, seeded third, routed 18-year-old Serbian wild card Filip Krajinovic, 6-1, 6-2. Isner, seeded second, beat fourth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-5, 7-5.

Novak Djokovic, ranked No. 2 in the world, withdrew from the Madrid Open because of illness and allergies. The tournament opens Monday.

U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, ranked 12th in the WTA, had surgery to remove a bone spur from her right elbow, but she said she hopes to play in the French Open.

MISCELLANEOUS

California angler takes title
in tournament at Lake Mead

Joseph Caporuscio of Coto De Caza, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces to win $43,419 in the FLW Series National Guard Western Division tournament at Lake Mead.

Caporuscio finished with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 49 pounds, 9 ounces, about two pounds ahead of second-place Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif.

Boulder City's Tim Klinger finished fifth, earning $10,718.

Also: New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton said he doesn't think now would be the right time for the team to bring in former Louisiana State star JaMarcus Russell.

Russell was a popular college player, putting together a highlight-filled LSU career that led Oakland to make him the No. 1 overall draft choice of 2007. But Russell struggled with the Raiders, who released him Thursday after thee seasons.

Paul Williams earned a bizarre boxing victory in Carson, Calif., when Kermit Cintron wasn't allowed to continue after tripping and tumbling through the ropes, landing on a ringside table early in the fourth round.

The 154-pound bout ended with Cintron (32-3-1, 28 knockouts) strapped to a stretcher and wearing a neck brace, though he wanted to get up and keep fighting.

Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) was awarded a technical victory by split decision because he led on two of the three judges' scorecards.

Mexican challenger Hugo Cazares (31-6-1) defeated Japan's Nobuo Nashiro (13-2-1) in a unanimous decision to win the WBA super flyweight title in Osaka, Japan.

Mark Webber claimed his second pole of the Formula One season, leading a Red Bull 1-2 effort at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Spain.

Webber secured Red Bull's fifth straight start from first place on the grid with a lap time of 1 minute, 19.995 seconds at the Circuit de Catalunya. Sebastian Vettel trailed for the Austrian team's third 1-2 start of the season.

Brad Lawson carried Stanford to the NCAA men's volleyball championship, finishing with 23 kills as the Cardinal beat Penn State 30-25, 30-20, 30-18 at Stanford, Calif.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins won the Giro d'Italia's opening leg in Amsterdam, edging world champion Cadel Evans and American Brent Bookwalter by two seconds.

Wiggins finished the 5.2-mile individual time trial in 10 minutes, 20 seconds in wet and windy weather.