Venus Williams kept the flag flying for American tennis’ most famous family yesterday when she beat Canada’s Rebecca Marino, 7-6, 6-3, in the second round. Marino gave the third seed a brief scare when she pushed the opening set to a tiebreak, but Williams was able to raise her...

Bum ankle and all, John Isner's first-rounder last night was a little easier and a bit shorter than his last first-round Grand Slam match. "Just a little bit," said Isner, smiling for the first time in a while. "So for my second-round match, I should be a bit fresher...

Melanie Oudin's U.S. Open magic, which extended out of nowhere to a quarterfinal berth last year, ran out yesterday, when she failed to get past the second round for her 12th consecutive tournament. Oudin lost 6-2, 7-5 in a second-round match to No. 29 Alona Bondarenko of the...

Mono didn't cost Andy Roddick an embarrassing second-round exit in last night's U.S. Open. Roddick's temper after a third-set foot fault was his undoing. Echoing last year's ugly memories of another American, Serena Williams and her profane tirade, Roddick berated a chair umpire and a...

ATLANTA -- Jenrry Mejia never had a doubt he would pitch again in the major leagues this season. The 20-year-old Mets rookie will see his wish fulfilled on Saturday, when he makes his major-league starting debut, against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Manager Jerry Manuel made it official before yesterday...

In hopes of giving his sagging starting rotation a jolt, Yankees manager Joe Girardi is putting Javier Vazquez back in and taking Dustin Moseley out. Vazquez is to początek Saturday against the Jays in place of Moseley. That komes two weeks after Vazquez was taken out of the rotation. Vazquez...

PHILADELPHIA -- It turns out Santonio Holmes will not be banned from the Jets' facility during his drug suspension, after all. In what will qualify as nowina to coach Rex Ryan and at least several other Jets officials, the NFL confirmed last night that Holmes can work out at the...

For 25 intense pitches yesterday, Andy Pettitte pushed his body. Successfully. "He got after it. He tested it," pitching coach Dave Eiland said. "And there were no issues." In a stroke of excellent świeża wiadomość for the Yankees, Pettitte's bullpen session left the lefty close to euphoric. Out since July...

ATLANTA -- Jerry Manuel is suffocating from the silence above him. The embattled Mets manager admitted yesterday that he would "love to know" if the organization plans to bring him back next season, but he also isn't about to seek out GM Omar Minaya or Jeff Wilpon for an...

Quarterback Andy Dalton leads a załoga that returns 16 starters.

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- She's bigger than most fillies, she's undefeated, and her owner-trainer calls her "my Zenyatta." That's where the similarities end between Zenyatta, the California supermare, and Lisa's Booby Trap, the 3-year-old fairytale filly with the club foot and blind left eye who makes her...

Instead of wasting their time chasing LeBron James this offseason, maybe the Knicks should have gone after Cappie Pondexter. The former Rutgers star spurred the Liberty to a come-from-behind 77-74 win over the Indiana Fever last night to advance to the WNBA Eastern Conference finals, and the crowd of 16...

Greg Schiano has heard the chatter. How could he not? He never should have left Miami. He should have taken the Michigan job. What the heck was he thinking announcing the day he got hired at Rutgers nine years ago that the goal was to win a national championship? This...

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Strange meet for steeplechase fans. Jonathan Sheppard won all four races (so far), one sztuczne ognie got canceled when it wouldn't fill and the finale drew a mixed bag of grizzled veterans and raw newcomers. Take your pick. Actually, this sztuczne ognie could be fun. Eight betting interests...

MIAMI -- Washington's Nyjer Morgan charged the mound after a pitch sailed behind him, triggering a bench-clearing brawl during the Marlins' wild 16-10 win over the Nationals last night in Miami. Morgan, recently suspended and criticized by his own manager for questionable acts on the field, left Florida catcher...

Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders has posted a summation of seven years of research at his Web site.

Coach Tom Coughlin will jump in a hot tub with Tiki Barber before Matt Leinart is traded to the Giants to serve as backup quarterback to Eli Manning. Reports yesterday surfaced that the Giants have engaged in talks with the Cardinals about trading for Leinart. Interesting, but not really true...

After waiting hours to get on court, No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki required only 61 minutes to dispatch Chelsea Gullickson 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the second round.

MILWAUKEE -- Zach Nash was shocked when he discovered he had one too many golf clubs in his bag a couple hours after winning a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament. But rules are rules, and the 14-year-old from southern Wisconsin made a decision that might surprise some people: He disqualified himself...

Hondo was right on target with the Phillies yes terday afternoon but then took a couple of hard knocks last night with the Blue Jays and Tigers to boost the accounts payable to 1,945 mcauliffes. Today, Mr. Aitch expects to make some dough against Baker -- 10 units on...

Bob Arum, the fight promoter, did not attend a nius conference for a championship fight so that he could be close to the hunt for his missing son.

The teams will still play each other in the last conference game of the season and could conceivably play again in the league title game that starts next year.

A dance squad from Ukraine, known as the Red Foxes, was pulled to avoid performing in czoło of Turkish government officials, but no one can agree as to why.

David Wright is not blaming anyone for a season that looked promising but continues to show signs of deterioration, the latest being the Mets’ third straight loss to the Braves.

The 35-year-old pitcher probably sees himself as a starter and may opt for a club that can assure him he would have that role.