Nadal advances in Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain -- Rafael Nadal defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3 Thursday to reach the Barcelona Open quarterfinals, posting his 100th win on clay in his last 101 matches.
The three-time French Open champion's only loss during that stretch dating back to 2005 came against Roger Federer in Hamburg Masters final last year.
Nadal's win sets up a quarterfinal match against Juan Ignacio Chela, who defeated Ernests Gulbis 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland will play Albert Montanes after upsetting seventh-ranked David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-1. Montanes held on to beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Earlier, fifth-seeded David Ferrer rallied to stop Nicolas Lapentti 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Dulko advances to quarterfinals in Morocco
FEZ, Morocco -- Second-seeded Gisela Dulko defeated Emilie Loit 6-3, 6-2 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem.
The Argentine will play seventh-seeded Sorana Cirstea, who defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2.
Safin, Gonzalez advances at BMW Open
MUNICH, Germany -- Marat Safin edged Michael Berrer 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-3 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the BMW Open. The Russian next faces second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who rallied to defeat Kristof Vliegen 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 on another day of rain delays.
Butkus, nonprofit settle lawsuit over award
ORLANDO -- A nonprofit group that hands out the Butkus Award to the nation's top college linebacker will stop presenting it after a yearlong legal battle with the Hall of Famer. Dick Butkus sued in Los Angeles federal court in 2007, demanding the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando relinquish control of the Butkus Award, which it had given out for 23 years and trademarked in 1987. He said the club didn't raise enough money for charity and in April won a summary judgement.
In exchange for returning the trademark to Butkus, the club will be able to use his name in conjunction with other fundraisers. The settlement was reached earlier this week.
Calipari lands another top recruit
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Coach John Calipari added another top recruit to his incoming class when 6-foot-8 guard Wesley Witherspoon announced his intention to play for the Tigers.
Witherspoon made his announcement Thursday at Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Ga., The Commercial Appeal reported on its Web site. He said that Tyreke Evans had been recruiting him almost like an assistant coach last weekend at the Jordan Brand Classic all-star game in New York.
Red Sox exploring potential spring training move
BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox have spoken with officials in Sarasota, about relocating their spring training home from Fort Myers to the facility that will become vacant when the Cincinnati Reds move to Arizona in two years.
Red Sox spokesman John Blake called the talks preliminary.
"Lee County has been exemplary in the way they've maintained the facility, but the Red Sox needs have changed since 1993," Blake said Thursday. "We're in the very early stages of doing this, but we need to explore our options whether it's in Lee County or somewhere else."
The Red Sox moved in 1993 from Winter Haven to Fort Myers, where they have played in the 7,290-seat City of Palms Park.
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