Off the wire

TENNIS Federer rolls; Benneteau next

Things could get a little more interesting for Roger Federer. After a pair of straightforward and straight set victories in Paris at the French Open against qualifiers ranked outside the top 150, the 17-time major champion will face a seeded player, France’s Julien Benneteau, who not only already beat Federer once this year but also came within two points of upsetting him at Wimbledon, of all places, in 2012. “I think I’m playing OK,” Federer said in something of an understatement, considering he’s dropped 11 games through six sets so far. “Definitely think the next match is going to be sort of the big test for me, to see exactly where I stand.” There wasn’t much trouble for Federer in the second round Wednesday, when he beat two-time NCAA singles champion Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 in less than 1 ½ hours while accumulating a 54-12 edge in winners. Benneteau might not quite be the same guy who took the first two sets against Federer before losing in five on the grass of the All England Club nearly a year ago. Or the one who has beaten Federer twice in six meetings, including 6-3, 7-5 in February on an indoor hard court at Rotterdam, Netherlands. The 30th-seeded Benneteau dealt with pain in his thigh Wednesday during a topsy-turvy 7-6 (9), 7-5, 5-7, 0-6, 6-4 victory against Tobias Kamke of Germany. Ahead by two sets and at 5-5 in the third, Benneteau dropped 10 games in a row before righting himself. Serena Williams extended her career-high winning streak to 26 matches by defeating French wild-card entry Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday. A year after the only first-round Grand Slam exit of her career came in Paris, the American has lost four games in two matches.

HOCKEY Rangers fire Tortorella

The New York Rangers fired combative Coach John Tortorella on Wednesday, four days after New York was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Tortorella was unexpectedly dismissed with one year left on his contract. He led the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals last year and into the second round this year before New York was eliminated in five games by the Boston Bruins. The fiery Tortorella, who was hired to replace Tom Renney in February 2009, achieved some success with the Rangers but couldn’t match the Stanley Cup title he earned in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last season, Tortorella led the Rangers to 51 victories - the second-most in franchise history - and 109 points before they were beaten in six games by New Jersey in the conference finals. He finished his Rangers tenure in fourth place on the team’s career coaching victories list.

BASKETBALL Bobcats name Clifford as coach

Steve Clifford said he isn’t one to back down from challenges. That might make him a good fit for Charlotte. The Bobcats are a long way from being a legitimate NBA playoff contender. The team introduced Clifford as their new head coach at a news conference Wednesday. Clifford becomes the Bobcats’ sixth different coach since the 2006-2007 season and inherits a team that went a combined 28-120 over the past two seasons, by far the worst record in the NBA. “Steve has worked quite a few years in this league and we feel very positive with that with our young competitive core that he is the right fit for us,” said Rod Higgins, Bobcats president of basketball operations. Clifford said after meeting with Higgins and General Manager Rich Cho last week that he feels confident they share the same vision for the Bobcats. “When I met with them I left here thinking that the three of us could work very effectively together,” Clifford said. His core players include no big time NBA stars, but rather young and developing players like four year NBA veteran Gerald Henderson, second-year players Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo and last year’s rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

SOCCER Belgium rocks U.S. in friendly

Christian Benteke scored two goals in the second half and Marouane Fellaini had another, leading Belgium to a 4-2 thrashing of the United States on Wednesday night in Cleveland in an international friendly the Americans hoped would get them ready for World Cup qualifiers. Boasting a strong roster with 10 players from the English Premier League, Belgium broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in the second half. It overpowered a U.S. team that has some work to do on defense before it can think about making the field for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Benteke, who plays for Aston Villa, scored in the 56th and 71st minutes for Belgium, ranked 15th in the world and considered a rising European power. Geoff Cameron scored in the 22nd minute and Clint Dempsey pounded in a penalty kick in the 80th minute for the United States.

OLYMPICS Wrestling gets another look

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - And now for the gold medal match.

Three months after wrestling got kicked out of the 2020 Olympics, the ancient sport is back in the frame and will compete against baseball-softball and squash for a spot in the games.

“We had the opportunity to have a second chance to compete,” international wrestling federation head Nenad Lalovic said Wednesday after the three sports made the IOC short list. “We took the opportunity. We won the first match but there is another one to fight.”

Of eight sports competing for a place on the 2020 program, five were eliminated - karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wake boarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

The IOC executive board decided to recommend wrestling, squash and baseball-softball to the full IOC assembly for a final decision on Sept. 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Only one will get through.

“We are competitors. We had seven and now we have two,” said Lalovic, a Serb who has revamped the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles and led the campaign for reinstatement. “Be careful, we are good fighters.”

Despite a tradition dating to the Olympics of ancient Greece, wrestling was cut from the list of core sports by the IOC board in February. The decision caused an international uproar and prompted the United States, Russia, Iran and other countries to join forces in an unlikely political alliance to save the sport.

Wrestling has gone through a major upheaval since the rejection. Raphael Martinetti resigned as FILA president within days of the decision and was replaced by Lalovic, who won election as full-time leader 10 days ago.

The wrestling association has brought women and athletes into decision-making roles and enacted rule changes to make the competition more compelling. Matches will now consist of two three-minute sessions instead of three two-minute periods, and scoring will be cumulative instead of the previous best-of three system.

“Everybody understood what we have done,” said Lalovic, wiping away sweat from his forehand after the decision was announced in a packed conference room. “They probably trust us that we can do more and this is the result.

“But we have to do much more, and to prepare ourselves for Buenos Aires with additional arguments. These will not be sufficient in Buenos Aires.”

Asked whether the result showed the IOC’s earlier decision was a mistake, Lalovic said: “I can’t say that. Simply, I don’t judge them. They are in the position to judge us.”

Sports, Pages 18 on 05/30/2013

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