Federer, Nadal to renew rivalry in Rome final ROME (AP) — Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will renew their rivalry in the Italian Open final Sunday — exactly a week before the French Open starts. Six-time Rome champion Nadal defeated sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, a day after Berdych rallied to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic. Williams overcame an early break of her serve to ease past Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 and extend her career-best winning run to 23 matches. The men's final will mark the 30th meeting between Federer and Nadal, and it will be a rematch of the 2006 Rome final that Nadal won in a fifth-set tiebreaker. After being pushed to three sets in his previous two matches — against Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis and fourth-seeded David Ferrer — Nadal appeared back in his comfort zone against Berdych. [...] Azarenka has been slowed by right ankle and left foot injuries.

The top-ranked Serb wasted a chance to serve out the match and was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 by sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the Italian Open quarterfinals Friday. In the semifinals, Berdych will face six-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. In the other half of the draw, Roger Federer overcame an early break in the second set to edge rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 (2) in a night match at the Foro Italico. In the women's tournament, top-ranked Serena Williams rolled past Spanish opponent Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 to extend her winning run to a career-best 22 matches. [...] two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova withdrew before her quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Sara Errani due to illness. Errani, the first Italian semifinalist in this tournament since Raffaella Reggi won the 1985 event in Taranto, will face third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who held off ninth-seeded Sam Stosur 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Djokovic served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but Berdych ripped a backhand winner that landed on the line on his first break point and won the final four games of the set. In the third set, Berdych went ahead with an early break and then shook off some nerves to close the match out on his fourth match point with a big serve out wide that Djokovic could barely get his racket on.

New Canaan girls tennis team advances to FCIAC semifinals with win over Wilton In a year where balance is the key word in the world of FCIAC girls tennis, New Canaan High School took an important first step on its playoff journey Thursday by grinding out a 5-2 victory over Wilton in the conference quarterfinals. [...] the Rams' depth was proved very important as Wilton won at both No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Veterans Kristin Laub and Sara Greene captured No. 1 doubles by winning the first and third sets, 6-1. Amanda Merjian and Sarah Lovejoy won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1 for the Rams. [...] it was Emily Brand's three-set triumph (6-0, 4-6, 6-1) over Allie Schaefer that propelled New Canaan into Monday's semifinals. Wilton is an interesting mix of four seniors, two freshman singles players and two sophomores. Wilton head coach Mike Gillespie feels Thursday's experience will pay dividends for the Warriors at state tournament time.

ROME (AP) — Top-ranked Serena Williams extended her winning streak to a career-best 22 matches and reached the Italian Open semifinals by beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 Friday.

ROME (AP) — Two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn before her Italian Open quarterfinal match against seventh-seeded Sara Errani because of illness. The announcement comes less than 10 days before the start of the French Open, the year's second Grand Slam, which starts May 26.