Semis are set at WTA Championships

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Saturday's semifinals are now set at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, as top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin will meet fourth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Maria Sharapova will take on her seventh-seeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Friday's Sharapova-Ivanovic winner would not have to face the world No. 1 Henin here on Saturday, and it worked out for the 2004 Championships victor Sharapova, who dismantled her fellow 20-year-old Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 on the fourth and final day of round-robin play on the hardcourt at Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo.
Sharapova pasted Ivanovic in 1 hour, 10 minutes, as she recorded five service breaks, compared to zero for the overmatched Serb.
The Australian Open runner-up and former world No. 1 Sharapova was a perfect 3-0 in this week's four-player Red Group, while the French Open runner-up Ivanovic went 2-1. The group was rounded out by eighth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova (1-2) and second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (0-3). Hantuchova took the place of Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (dizziness) in the exclusive eight-player field...Full Story

James leads Cavs into Utah

(Sports Network) - The defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers continue their road trip when they visit the Utah Jazz tonight at EnergySolutions Arena.
Cleveland is 1-1 on its season-long six-game road trip. On Tuesday, Daniel Gibson drained five three-pointers as Cleveland knocked off the Golden State Warriors, 108-104, at ORACLE Arena.
Gibson finished with 22 points and LeBron James scored a team-best 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out nine assists. Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Drew Gooden added 16 points and eight boards in the victory.
Guard Larry Hughes (bruised left knee) is expected to miss tonight's game. Hughes, who is averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 assists per game this season, did not play against Golden State...Full Story

Round-robin groups revealed for Tennis Masters Cup

Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - The two four-man groups for next week's season-ending Tennis Masters Cup were announced on Wednesday, as Swiss great Roger Federer will head up the Red Group, while powerful Spaniard Rafael Nadal spearheads the Gold Group. Federer is the defending champion.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer is joined in a very tough Red Group by No. 4 Russian Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 American Andy Roddick and No. 7 Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, while the second-seeded Nadal is joined in the Gold quartet by No. 3 Serbian Novak Djokovic, No. 6 Spaniard David Ferrer and No. 8 Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Spain will be the only country with more than one participant this year (Nadal and Ferrer).
Round-robin play will commence Sunday on the indoor hardcourt at Shanghai's state-of-the-art Qi Zhong Stadium, with two matches on the docket. The French Open champion Nadal will open up against Gasquet, while the nightcap will pit Djokovic versus Ferrer...Full Story

Wigan axe Hutchings after only 12 games

Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Wigan announced on Monday that the club has fired manager Chris Hutchings 12 games into the Premiership season following the club's 2-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday.
The firing comes just six months after Hutchings was appointed to the manager role, following the departure of Paul Jewell at the end of last season.
Assistant Frank Barlow will take control of the team on a caretaker basis.
Hutchings served as an assistant to Jewell for six years before taking over in May. His tenure started well with two wins in the team's first three games, but Wigan has since been bounced out of the League Cup by Championship side Hull City and lost its last six games in league play.
"This has been a very difficult decision for me and the board to make but I felt we had to act in the best interests of the club and its long-term future," chairman Dave Whelan said in a statement.
"Chris has worked very hard since becoming manager and I cannot fault either his effort or commitment to the cause. However, it is crucial for the development of Wigan that we maintain our Premier League status this season and following results and performances in recent matches, we feel it is critical to act now."