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Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (4) Thursday night to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in his first tournament since returning from a six-week injury layoff.

Nadal used every inch of the court in beating Berdych for the sixth consecutive time. He mixed topspin with power off the forehand side, slipped in drop shots, and painted the corners with smashes.

“I’m playing a big forehand from baseline and going inside the court, being more aggressive,” he said.

Nadal won the final three points of the tiebreaker that ended with Berdych netting a backhand. The Spaniard leaped for joy, trading the snarl he wore through most of the match for a smile.

“I played really well, especially the first set,” Nadal said. “The first eight, nine games was an unbelievable level. Later the wind came and it was more difficult to play.”

Nadal was hampered by knee injuries last summer that continued into the Australian Open in January, when he was forced to retire in the quarterfinals.

Jelena Jankovic rallied from a 2-4 second-set deficit to beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-4 and reach the women’s semifinals.

Jankovic won the final four games of the match, twice breaking Kleybanova, to extend her best showing of the year. Jankovic made the semifinals at Indian Wells in 2008, and went on to finish the year ranked No. 1 in the world.

But she struggled last year, prompting changes. She’s pared down her playing schedule, lost weight, and dropped her coach earlier this month.

“I haven’t been playing well,” she said. “So it’s nice to get that feeling back and to be winning again and be in the end of the tournament again.”

At the start of the two-week event, the locker room was so crowded Jankovic could barely set her racket bag down. She arrived Thursday and found plenty of room.

“I like that feeling,” she said. “I want to be at the end of the tournament where there’s no one and there’s only a couple of us standing. That means I’m doing well.”

In the semis, Jankovic will play Aussie Samantha Stosur, a 6-3, 7-6 (9) winner over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.

Their match ended awkwardly when Stosur challenged Sanchez’s serve that had been called good. Sanchez thought Stosur was questioning the Aussie’s return, and believed her challenge request wasn’t made in time.

“She thought maybe it was a first serve or she got confused about something, but I wanted to challenge the serve and the serve was out, so it’s a second serve,” Stosur said. “It’s a little bit more big a deal because it was match point.”

Sanchez was also confused about the score in the tiebreaker.

“I was disappointed,” she said. “I don’t know what happened.”

Stosur has yet to drop a set in four matches, and is projected to crack the top 10 for the first time in the WTA Tour rankings.

No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki and fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who also hasn’t dropped a set, will meet in the other semi.

Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia gave himself an early birthday present by defeating Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, setting up a semifinal against Nadal. Ljubicic turns 31 on Friday.

“I got a phone call from my brother just after the match. He said that in Croatian time zone I finish just like couple seconds before my birthday, so it’s fantastic,” he said. and won eight of the final nine games, helped by 11 aces.

“I was a little bit upset after I lost that service game. Cost me the whole set. It was really the only bad game that I played in the whole match,” he said. “But I was lucky enough to be able to break him early in the second. I felt really creative out there. I felt I could hit the ball anywhere.”

After playing three consecutive night matches, Jankovic faced much different conditions during the day, with the sun in her eyes and the temperature in the upper 80s.

Kleybanova was within a point of taking a 5-2 lead on her serve in the second when the Russian double-faulted twice in a row and got broken.

Then Jankovic held at 4-4 and owned the momentum the rest of the way.

“Against Kleybanova it’s really not easy to play your game because she plays those really flat shots and you never know where she’s gonna hit it,” Jankovic said. “It can throw you back at times.”

Cesc Fabregas is poised to return from injury as Arsenal entertain West Ham on Saturday, but William Gallas fitness is an ongoing concern for manager Arsene Wenger.

Gunners captain Fabregas has been out since March 6 - missing the matches with Porto and Hull - due to a hamstring injury but is expected to pass a fitness test on Friday morning.

Tomas Rosicky is also anticipated to be fit following a groin problem, but Wenger says defender William Gallas has an endless calf injury.

Gallas has missed the last six games and is set to be out for at least two more matches - missing the game against West Ham and the match at Birmingham on March 27.

Cesc and Tomas have a final test tomorrow morning, Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday. They should be available for Saturday.

From the last game we dont lose anybody, so normally we should have Fabregas, Carlos Vela and Rosicky back. Plus of course we have Song coming back from suspension.

However, William Gallas will not be available this week or at Birmingham. It is going on and on. It is a concern.

It is an endless calf strain and so we need Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre to be highly ready to help us out.

Alex Song will be back from a two-match suspension against the Hammers and Carlos Vela could be added to the squad as Arsenal seek to enhance their title bid after their last-gasp 2-1 win at Hull last weekend.

Carlo Ancelotti faces the sack after only his first season in charge of Chelsea if he fails to deliver the Premier League title.

Roman Abramovich was angered at Chelseas failure to perform as they exited the Champions League to Jose Mourinhos Inter Milan this week, and Ancelotti admitted in the aftermath that his job was under scrutiny.

Ive worked for a long time in this environment and I know exactly what the expectations are, he said. Its normal that a manager is going to come under pressure if he loses a few matches.

Soccernet sources close to Abramovich have confirmed that the Chelsea owner called a team meeting to express his frustration with the players after the defeat and that Ancelotti will have to win the league to survive the axe.

Roman was upset with the players, for sure, the source said. He called the players to a team talk.

Ancelotti-s-future now depends on the league. He will need to win the league to survive.

Yet, should Ancelotti leave, Abramovich is running out of options for a replacement, with Guus Hiddink already having accepted the Turkey job.

Frank Rijkaard, currently with Galatasaray after spells with Netherlands, Sparta Rotterdam and Barcelona, could come into contention for the role once more, according to the source.

Roman wouldnt have Mourinho back, thats for sure, he said. Rijkaard was a candidate before, but he decided he didnt want to take the job.

It has been widely suggested that Abramovich could now be willing to fund an overhaul of the squad this summer, but he is unwilling to join Real Madrid and Manchester City in paying hugely inflated fees.

Fernando Torres has been strongly linked and the Spain striker will be the top target if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League, but the source believes Chelsea will be priced out of the bidding.

Tennis officials have closed the book on Andre Agassi’s drug revelations.

International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti told the Associated Press on Wednesday that despite appeals from the World Anti-Doping Agency, the statute of limitations in the case expired long ago and no retroactive punishment was possible.

In Agassi’s recently published autobiography, , he wrote that he took crystal meth in 1997 and lied to the ATP to avoid a suspension after failing a doping test.

The statute of limitations in the case was eight years.

“The ATP is the only entity that could have shed light on what happened, but it’s too late,” Ricci Bitti said. “WADA asked information from the ATP without much success. As a member of WADA’s executive commi decided to make these revelations.

“I’m sure he had his reasons, which were not easy to understand. … There were a lot of strange reasons involved. From a sports point of view, it’s very unfortunate. I think what he did hurt our sport.”

In another drug issue, Ricci Bitti is awaiting the outcome of appeals launched by Belgian players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse, who were given one-year bans for violating WADA’s whereabouts rule.

The suspensions were lifted in December after the players appealed to a Belgian court, and both still have appeals pending with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Wickmayer also has taken her case to the European Commission and the European Court for Human Rights.

“It’s a very important case because it could have consequences resulting in the revision of the WADA code,” said Ricci Bitti, who is also an International Olympic Committee member.

Wickmayer claims she was not properly informed of the online reporting requirements for drug-testing that led to her ban.

Under WADA rules, elite athletes must be available for out-of-competition testing for one hour a day, 365 days a year. They must give three months’ notice of where they will be so they can be tested.

Regarding recent talk from some players and promoters calling for a tennis World Cup, he reiterated that the ITF is not about to abandon the Davis Cup.

“Everyone has the right to bring in new ideas but the players have to understand that the Davis Cup is part of tennis’ history, just like the Grand Slams, and it should be respected,” he said. “That doesn’t mean the international federation isn’t open to new ideas.”

One such idea Ricci Bitti mentioned is the addition of fifth-set tiebreakers for the Davis Cup.

“There are a lot of things we are considering for the Davis Cup,” he said. “But right now we don’t see any reason to change something that works so well.”

The proposed World Cup would involve rules changes and 32 teams playing in a 10-day biennial event at a single venue, according to details discussed by Novak Djokovic in January.

Lastly, Ricci Bitti discussed problems facing the French Tennis Federation over plans to build a new stadium for the French Open, with opposition from residents and some members of the Paris city council.

“Clearly, the French federation has a dilemma on its ha bec but the big problem is that Roland Garros is in a very high-class residential area and it’s difficult to carry out big projects in an area like that,” Ricci Bitti said.

The French federation’s contract to use the current site runs through 2015, and it has brought up the option of moving the tournament to the Paris suburbs.

“If Roland Garros was in America, I think it would [move],” Ricci Bitti said. “Americans are better than we Europeans at taking decisions. We’re more attached to history and we try everything we can to hold on to that. It’s not just difficult in monetary and financial terms, it’s a challenge culturally.

“I’m in contact with the president and the federation, and I’m sure they’ll resolve the situation eventually.”

When he heard the news, Rocco Mediate turned to an associate on the practice putting green at the Transitions Championship on Tuesday and laughed.

Like many others, Mediate was monitoring the whereabouts of a certain exiled superstar and had wagered a few greenbacks on when he might pop out of his rabbit hole.

Mediate figured it would be next week in Orlando, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where Tiger Woods has won six professional titles.

‘I am sure when he comes back he will be 190 percent ready to go,’ Rocco Mediate says of Tiger Woods. (Getty Images) Bzzzzzt. Wrong answer. How about Masters for $100, Alex?

“I just lost a bet,” Mediate laughed.

Despite a professional layoff of 144 days, a span in which his unsettling personal life was dissected in full public view by tabloids, talk-show comedians, magazines and TV news shows, not many of Woods’ peers would dare gamble that he won’t contend when he makes his much-awaited season debut at the Masters in April.

We can debate how wild the scene might be, or to what degree the Augusta National folks can provide adequate cover from heckling or harassment, but there’s one detail that few of his PGA Tour brethren bothered to dispute Tuesday when they finally learned of his comeback plans.

Five months off or not, Woods will be ready to rock and roll. If not top the charts.

“Absolutely, it’s a no-brainer, of course he can come back and be competitive,” said 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman. “I have no doubt in my mind that he’ll be prepared. I think he’ll be the favorite.”

He’ll be a marked man, no matter how you define it.

The Masters has a private security force, a tightly controlled fan base and a sense of decorum unlike any other tournament, so it doubtlessly made the most sense for a Woods comeback, from a practical standpoint. But he hasn’t hit a shot since Nov. 15, when he won the Australian Masters. Woods has won after lengthy layoffs before, including a nine-week stretch before the 2008 U.S. Open, but this is new territory.

Exactly one player has won the M the almost equally reclusive and enigmatic Ben Hogan, who won at Augusta in 1951 and ‘53 in his season opener.

“If anybody can, he can, because he seems to blow your mind every week with what he does,” veteran Heath Slocum said of Woods. “But he’s got a tough road. It’s going to be different for him after everything he has been through, a different experience.

“It’s going to be different for him, for TV, for the players, the media, everybody that’s normally involved in a tour event or the Masters. It’s going to be … interesting.”

Slocum paused. Was circus the word he was looking for?

“Very much,” Slocum said.

The concern voiced by some is that the timing of the Woods comeback, in fact, will swallow the Masters whole.

“I think the Masters is bigger than that,” former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said, somewhat hopefully. “If he contends, it will be crazy, obviously. But early-week, obviously the only talk will be that, but the Masters is bigger than that.”

It’s the highest-rated golf broadcast of the year for a reason, after all.

“Nothing can upstage the Masters, no way,” Mediate said. “It’s the Masters, man.”

Woods is the man at the Masters, having donned the green jacket four times. Still, he hasn’t won there since 2005 and there’s got to be some rust from the layoff. True, he’s not coming back from an injury like he was in 2008 and his golf game hasn’t theoretically suffered.

But in some ways, this scenario is even worse than his wounded-knee circumstance of two years ago. Nobody has any idea how he will be received or how it will affect him, though the Masters presents the best platform for a return.

“It’s probably the most controlled atmosphere you can possibly have,” former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk said. “Augusta’s got that stigma or whatever you want to have it. You guys are different that week, fans are as well-behaved as they can get because everyone’s afraid they will lose their ticket.

“It’s just different. Everyone is in awe of that place from top to bottom.”

But golf has never experienced a situation like this. Some fans are outright angry at Woods for what he did to the image of the game and hiding from it won’t make it much better. Woods has yet to field a single question about the sex scandal, car crash or ties to a controversial Canadian doctor, and it’s unclear whether he will do so at Augusta.

“I think there is a downside to saying he can go to a place that is well-protected. If you don’t allow the people who really want to be there, media-wise, they are just going to make it up anyway,” veteran Paul Goydos said. “I don’t necessarily think that being well-protected is an advantage over the long run.

“I think he needs to face these people at some time. And if you don’t face them, they are just going to make it up. They will come with their own answers. In the absence of facts, they will make it up. Yes, I agree that the Masters has a lot of power and it buys him a lot of time, but what price do you pay for that time?”

Time didn’t matter much when Woods faced Mediate on a broken leg at Torrey Pines at the 2008 U.S. Open. He hadn’t played since the Masters and won in extra holes, limping into golf lore.

“He had a hard time there, didn’t he?” Mediate laughed. “When he has these layoffs, he just can’t play. Would I be surprised if he won the Masters? Absolutely not. I am sure when he comes back he will be 190 percent ready to go.

“He has something to prove and he has never disappointed. I don’t think he’s going to come out hitting it sideways, put it that way.

“Here is one thing that is for sure: The No. 1 world ranking is not up for grabs.”

The Woods sideshow will almost c his partners in the first two rounds at Augusta. They will be caught in the eye of the storm through no doing of their own.

“It would be a disappointing draw, a tough draw to handle,” Ogilvy said. “But at least if you play with him there you are insulated a little bit. But it’s not the draw you would hope for.”

Mediate predicted that the whole scandal scenario, while it might leave a mark on Woods’ psyche, will have an unusual result.

“I think he’ll be better,” Mediate said. “Because he has faced things he has never had to face. He has faced a whole bunch of bad stuff and he’s never had to deal with that with everybody.

“He has become a little more human to everybody else, which is probably good. But as a golfer, he has not become any more human.”

Maria Sharapova has signed up to play in the Wimbledon grass-court warmup in Birmingham in June.

The 13th-ranked Russian is a two-time champion at the AEGON Classic, having won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.

Sharapova said she is looking forward to playing “at this important time in the grass court season.”

The Birmingham tournament runs from June 7-13 at the Edgbaston Priory. Wimbledon starts June 21.

Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 for her first Grand Slam title. She has been bother by injuries in the past year.

Officials met again at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge on Monday to discuss security issues, fan contingencies and potential catastrophes.

Because, if Tiger Woods elects to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week, all three could be rolled into one.

“Chaos,” Jim Furyk said of the likely scene when Woods returns. “It’s going to be a zoo.”

Funny he should use animals as part of his metaphor.

“When he walks into that locker room or dining area for the first time,” British Open champion Stewart Cink said, “it’s going to be like there’s a giant elephant in the room.”

As an expectant world already knows, for Woods to put his sordid past behind him, he has to crawl out of his self-induced exile at some point. Everybody associated with the PGA Tour is waiting for that day, whether it’s next week, at the Masters or wherever, knowing the long-term gain will almost certainly require some short-term risk.

Last week, conflicting reports from multiple news outlets had Woods mulling a return Monday and Tuesday at the Tavistock Cup, played on his home course outside Orlando, followed by an appearance at the Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he’s the two-time defending champion and a six-time winner. Other reports had him waiting until the Masters on April 8 to play.

Even though Tiger Woods wasn’t around at Doral last weekend, he was. (AP) As a result, all last week at the biggest event of the year to date, the star-strewn CA Championship outside Miami, it was like tracking a careening Caribbean hurricane on the Weather Channel. Everybody knew it was going to come ashore somewhere, at some point, and that the blowback from Hurricane Eldrick is going to be furious.

Absent last week or not, a huge banner hanging near the first tee box at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa featured a panel photograph of several prominent players, including Woods, whose image looked down on fans, larger than life. He loo a fateful date everybody wants to get over with.

Players mostly want Woods back in the fold for a variety of reasons, but they expect it could be downright ugly for a spell. Furyk, who has been paired with Woods in tournaments and international cup competitions dozens of times, struggled for the right words.

“I think everybody looks forward to him coming back, they just don’t look forward to … I look forward to things being back to normal and business as usual,” he said. “But that first week is going to be …”

Awkward might be an apt term. There’s a sense of anticipation, mixed with a huge helping of dread.

It’s not hard to envision hand-written signs with witticisms like Tiger Slept Here scribbled on them, or females dangling car keys along the gallery ropes. He was twice mocked in San Diego by airplanes trailing banners for local strip clubs. It could also get abusive, which is the biggest concern of the players and events like Bay Hill, where extra security in on standby in the event Woods commits by Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

“I think you’re going to have all sorts,” Padraig Harrington said. “Like, there’s no doubt there’s a lot of people, a lot of the solid fans who are disappointed, and I don’t know how they are going to react.

“But I think in general, people will be curious. It will be a bigger deal. Golf has held him in such high esteem and obviously with this whole thing, from a golfing standpoint, it has been disappointing.”

Imagine the fate of the poor schlubs who get paired with the guy at his first few events, especially if it’s a more publicly open affair, like Bay Hill.

“I think that if you get into a situation where people are heckling and trying to irritate him, they are going to irritate the other players around him as well,” Furyk said. “It definitely has a trickle-down effect. That could be a possibility, especially at Bay Hill. Obviously, Augusta provides more of a controlled crowd and controlled atmosphere.”

The animosity in certain pockets of fandom is matched in certain factions of players. Two weeks ago on the driving range at the Honda Classic, a parade of players marched past a Golf Channel analyst and figuratively patted him on the back, offering congratulations for the scathing comments he had offered about Woods’ remarks during his statement reading last month. One was a top 10 player, too.

A player with Orlando ties was asked about whether he had perhaps seen Woods practicing on the range and preparing to make a comeback, said that he hadn’t, then turned and offered an unsolicited reaction.

“You want to kno-.”

The anger is understandable. It’s been exactly four months since Woods last hit a competitive shot, and for much of that time, players have been pestered with questions about his absence, if not prodded to answer questions Woods himself has evaded.

Other players fiercely defended Woods, however, and said that while the criticism of his personal meltdown might be warranted, players should keep in mind which dog is pulling this particular sports sled.

“You know what is sad about that?” Robert Allenby said. “Those guys forget what he has c I turned pro in 1991. Tiger came along and the prize money quadrupled.

“If there is any one guy out there, and I don’t care who they are, if they want to knock Tiger Woods, that’s just not the right thing to do. He has put so much more money in our pocket and we should be grateful for that part, that he came along in our era.”

Now we’re experiencing the darker portions of that ledger.

Last week, the Sports Business Journal noted that weekend TV ratings on CBS and NBC are down 18 percent ov and it’s an apples-to-apples comparison, since Woods didn’t play on Saturday or Sunday over the first 10 weeks of 2009, either. There could be several explanations, but during the outpouring of animosity that Woods generated in some quarters when the sex scandal started breaking, some fans threatened to literally tune out to the sport.

Perhaps they weren’t kidding. To many, Woods’ actions made golf a front-burner sport for all the wrong reasons. In part, that’s why world No. 2 Steve Stricker said he believes Woods should play before the Masters, lest his uncomfortable predicament swallow the tournament whole.

“Whenever he comes back it’s going to draw a lot of attention to that tournament and the focus is going to be on him coming back,” Stricker told reporters last week at Doral. “I don’t know if Augusta would like that to happen, you know? To turn it into Tiger’s comeback instead of the Masters tournament itself.”

Woods and his array of managers and handlers have so far declined to publicly identify where from tournament officials trying to conjure up security plans they might not need and fans pondering whether to buy tickets, to global media outlets trying to figure out what events to staff. As he has for four months, Woods is not answering any questions, which seems to be creating even more ill will.

The anxiety builds.

“I think we’re all looking forward to having him back,” Furyk said. “He’s our best player, and we need him back. We’re just looking forward to when it’s business as usual, not the circus.”

Hope he’s not holding his breath. Then again, for believers that there’s no such thing as toxic publicity, this might qualify as good news.

“He’s going to be more popular than ever,” Allenby said. “Everybody will want to see him, at least for the first couple of months. I mean, he’s been in the news more often than anybody not in Iraq.”

In that regard, Woods might attract more rubber-neckers than fans, which brings us full circle back to the initial concern: What fans are going to show up and how will he be greeted?

“I know people at home who have no interest in golf, and they are interested,” Harrington said. “They watch Tiger Woods interviews. There is going to be a bit more attention on it. It does make it a bit more E! Entertainment, doesn’t it, rather than CBS?”

Novak Djokovic built up a head of steam while losing nine consecutive games over two sets. He let it out by tossing his ballcap after finally winning a game in the third.

“If I could pull my hair off, I would do it in that moment,” he said.

That wasn’t the only trouble the world’s No. 2 player ran into Monday.

Djokovic staved off triple match point in the third to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (3) in third-round play at the BNP Paribas Open.

Kim Clijsters was upset 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) by Alisa Kleybanova, joining top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 3 Victoria Azarenka, No. 10 Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin on the sidelines before the fourth round.

“You want to see those big names play, but there’s a lot of younger girls who are making it tough,” Clijsters said.

She had won 15 consecutive matches at Indian Wells, including titles in 2003 and ‘05, the last time she played here. But the Belgian, who unretired last year and won the U.S. Open, came unglued after leading 4-0 in the tiebreak. She gave up seven consecutive points to lose.

“I let it slip away,” Clijsters said. “She played some really good points to get back into it. She kept me under pressure. I took my foot off the accelerator. That’s most definitely the wrong thing to do.”

John Isner beat Sam Querry 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a matchup of U.S. Davis Cup teammates that left Isner as one of four American men still alive.

Djokovic’s countrywoman, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, needed nearly three hours to get by Sara Errani of Italy, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Defending champion Vera Zvonareva advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.

Djokovic, the 2008 champion, trailed love-40 on his serve in the 10th game, but got back into the match mostly on Kohlschreiber’s mistakes. The Serb’s forehand volley winner saved the first match point, then Kohlschreiber wasted back-to-back backhands for deuce.

Djokovic’s ace and subsequent double-fault led to a second deuce before back-to-back errors by the German tied the set at 5-all.

“When I needed to, I did the work, served well and made some good approaches from the forehand side,” Djokovic said. “He could easily be the winner of this match and he would deserve it.”

Kohlschreiber held for his last lead at 6-5, then Djokovic served a love game.

The Serb led 4-0 in the tiebreak before closing out the 2½-hour match with a forehand winner. Both players struggled with errors in the midday desert sun, with Kohlschreiber committing 51 to 43 for Djokovic.

Defending champion and third-ranked Rafael Nadal needed just over an hour to put away Mario Ancic of Croatia, 6-2, 6-2, in front of a sparse stadium court crowd.

Nadal lost only one first-serve point and never faced a break point in beating Ancic for the fourth time in five meetings. The Spaniard kept the rallies brief, with many not lasting more than five strokes.

“The serve was important, but more important was my rhythm from the baseline,” he said. “I lost only a few points because I didn’t have mistakes, only seven unforced errors in two sets and 29 winners, that’s very good statistics.”

Nadal wore a pair of brown-and-white shorts with a lattice-type pattern and a white shirt with pink highlights.

“It’s more different than usual. That’s the thing, no?” he said about his shorts. “It was a little bit fashion for me. Is too much, a little bit for me, but going to be for this tournament.”

Djokovic was still delighted about meeting Pete Sampras for the first time last week, the 14-time Grand Slam champion whom he called his “lifetime idol.”

“He’s the one that gave me a lot of motivation to became a professional player because I didn’t have anyone playing tennis in my family. I had to do it myself,” Djokovic said.

The 22-year-old went into the meeting believing it was no big deal.

“But it was incredible,” he said. “He tells you, ‘You win with your mind and your heart.’ He promised to hit with me.”

In minor upsets, 17th-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel beat ninth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1; Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain defeated No. 27 Agnes Szavay of Hungary, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; No. 21 Juan Monaco of Argentina beat No. 11 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3; and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain got by No. 26 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

A few years back, Ernie Els branched out into the wine business.

His signature line out of South Africa has received warm reviews, and as any fan of red vino knows, some things tend to get better with age.

Els looks like the Ernie of old, with his win over an impressive field at the CA Championship. (Getty Images) Pop a cork and savor the flavor, because Sunday at the CA Championship was vintage Els.

Turning back the clock, oh, about a decade, Els cruised to his most meaningful and impressive win in six years, holding off young countryman Charl Schwartzel at Doral Golf Resort & Spa to win by four shots at 18-under par.

Given that the feat was accomplished at the biggest event of the year to date, it immediately revitalized the career of one of the game’s most important and popular figures after a gradual slide over the past few seasons.

“Obviously, things have been tough, you know,” said Ricci Roberts, Els’ caddie in 56 of his career victories worldwide. “Obviously it’s huge for him. I have said for the last few years, he’s still got it in him. I still think he’s got two or three more majors in him.”

No question, this was major enough for now.

“This means so much,” Els said. “I didn’t think it was ever going to happen again.”

A comparative kid almost ensured it didn’t happen Sunday. Pressed throughout the day by the 25-year-old Schwartzel, who is 15 years his junior, Els shot a bogey-free 66 and never blinked. This time, his putter, the bane of his existence for the past two years, actually helped deliver a title instead of costing him one.

The telling blow of the day came on the 14th, when Els made a crucial 24-footer for par, his longest putt of the week by 5 feet, allowing him to retain a one-shot lead. After a two-shot swing on the 17th, Els was actually able to enjoy his walk up the daunting 18th, one of the diciest holes in the game.

“I haven’t been making those kind of putts and you have to make putts like that to win golf tournaments at some point,” he said. “Luckily for me, I did it on the 14th hole today, and absolutely, I felt a lot better after that. I felt like maybe this one is for me this week.”

That feeling was a long time coming, even for a guy with a generally cheery disposition. He may be called the Big Easy, but his slide over the past few years has been anything but enjoyable for the Els camp, as his wife, Liezl, can attest.

“I live with him,” she laughed. “He is very driven and as dedicated as he was the day he came out. People, because everyone calls him the Big Easy, it’s easy to forget how hard he works.”

A former world No. 1, Els will jump 12 spots in Monday’s world ranking to No. 8, and that particular metric underscores his slow descent at least as much as his victory totals of late.

Els began 2010 at No. 17 in the world ranking, his lowest position to begin a season since 1994, when he was 20th and had no status on the U.S. tour. He won the first of his three majors in ‘94 and his future Hall of Fame career was off and running.

Yet as the putts refused to fall over the past two years, Els toppled in the pecking order in converse fashion. He was No. 5 when the 2008 season began, slipped to ninth open last year. Given his slot entering 2010, you don’t have to be a computer geek to discern the trend.

The victory drought in the States was becoming a real head-scratcher. Els had one win on the U.S. tour since 2004 and that was against a so-so field two years ago at the nearby Honda Classic. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, watching from behind the 18th green as Els putted out on Sunday, was smiling almost as broadly as the winner himself.

With Tiger Woods scandal still hanging over the game like a cloud, the sport sorely needs its biggest names to step up and help fill the void.

“Huge,” Finchem said.

That was pretty close to the word that Els’ manager, Chubby Chandler, used to underscore the importance of the day to Els’ bruised psyche. Over and over, Els had contended, even at the majors, but had been unable to scale the mountain on Sunday. His final round at Doral was incredibly clean.

“Massive,” Chandler said. “That was very complete, wasn’t it? You look back at some of his wins and he stumbled over the line at times, but there was no stumbling there, was there?”

Not even close. Els didn’t make a bogey. For the week, he ranked in the top five in greens found in regulation and putting, though the latter required a slight scramble of sorts.

After he missed four putts from inside 10 feet on Saturday, Els sent Roberts back to the hotel room before he had even signed his scorecard, to fetch another putter, which Els tossed in the bag and used without a hiccup on Sunday.

It was Els’ biggest victory on any tour in at least six years, probably since he won the precursor to this week’s event, the 2004 WGC American Express event against a stellar field overseas. He never quite recovered from a serious knee injury sustained in mid-2005 and had won only once in the States in that span.

Giddy or not, Els wasn’t making any bold proclamations about the future, having learned his lesson two years ago after winning the Honda Classic.

“I was a bit too cocky,” he sai especially given the spate of major championship sites this year, which already have Els’ salivary glands working overtime. In 2000, the two open championships were held at Pebble Beach and Bay Hill, where they return this season. He finished second at the first three majors of the season that year. Moreover, at Whistling Straits in 2004, again the site of the PGA Championship in August, Els three-putted the 72nd hole to miss a playoff by a stroke.

“Just to be back kind of in that group of players who are really performing well, I feel honored to be back in there,” he said. It didn’t happen by accident. After a poor showing last week in the final round at the Honda, Els went to the range at the Bear’s Club near his home in Jupiter and hit balls until the sun went down. He played in a member-guest event at Seminole Golf Club on Monday morning, then went back to the Bear’s Club for more range work. For three straight days, he and Roberts worked until they ran out of daylight.

“I want to just enjoy this one. This took so much work to win,” Els said. “A lot of people have said that the older you get, the tougher it becomes to win, and that’s very true. I’m 40 years old, and you know, it feels like in my 20s I had so many chances and I didn’t quite take them.

“Now that you’re older, you don’t get as many chances, so you’ve got to try to take them when they come. So this is nice. I’ll have a bit more confidence now, I’m sure, but I just want to keep working hard.”

Roberts was feeling slightly less constricted afterward, having hoisted a celebratory adult beverage in honor of his boss’ breakthrough. To Roberts, this felt just like old times.

Bottom’s up, Els fans. You’ve waited a while for this one.

“It’s been a battle the last few years,” Roberts said. “But like I keep saying, it [the talent] is always there, and the desire is stronger than ever. To be honest, I think you will see a lot more of him in the winner’s circle.”

Roger Federer had to work a little harder than expected Sunday night before beating Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Hanescu won a set from Federer for the first time in their five meetings. But the challenge the Romanian seemed to be mounting against the world’s top-ranked player by winning the final two points of the tiebreaker was dashed quickly in the final set.

Federer, a two-time champion of this event, lost five points while winning the first three in the 23-minute set.

The Swiss star, who was playing his first match since winning the Australian Open on Jan. 31, had 10 aces and hit 62 winners to offset 39 unforced errors. He will face No. 27 seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cypress in the third round.

“I was happy with the way I played,” Federer said. “Not having played for so long, I thought it was a good match overall. Missed maybe some of the clutch serving when I really needed it, but that’s something that happens.”

Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick, Federer’s potential opponent in the quarterfinals, beat qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4 late Sunday night.

Also, No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 6-0, 6-3. Wozniacki, 19, is the tournament favorite following top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova’s loss to Carla Suarez Navarro on Saturday. Wozniacki will face 16th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia in the fourth round.

Earlier, 2009 tourney runner-up Andy Murray beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4 in another second-round match.

Murray, the No. 4 seed, was visibly unhappy with his play throughout the 86-minute match, repeatedly gesturing and talking to himself after errant shots.

Afterward the 22-year-old Scot headed for the practice court.

“It was a pretty scrappy match today,” Murray said. “Even though it was relatively comfortable, still some tight moments. Then it was just to go and hit a few more balls and get used to the conditions.

“When you haven’t played for a long time you have to expect not to play your best in the first match out. I’m sure next round out I’ll feel fine.”

The women’s tournament that began with six former champions in the field is down to two following Jie Zheng’s 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory against Maria Sharapova, the 2006 champ. Sharapova, the 10th seed, lost the final four games after getting treatment on her right elbow while leading, 3-2, and preparing to serve in the third set.

Sharapova, who said she had trouble extending the elbow, had 14 double faults and lost serve seven times. Jie, an Australian Open semifinalist, lost serve six times.

The men’s field lost No. 5 seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who withdrew after tests revealed he had a fracture in his left wrist. He is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks.

The beneficiary of Davydenko’s misfortune is No. 29 seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who has played only one game but is in the fourth round. Troicki had a first-round bye and his opponent in the second round, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, withdrew after the first game of the match with a back problem.

No. 6 Robin Soderling of Sweden and No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France moved into the third round, but No. 12 Gael Monfils of France was beaten, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, by Simon Greul of Germany.

James Blake of the U.S. beat No. 13 David Ferrer of Spain, 6-1, 6-4.

In early third-round women’s matches, No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva was a 6-4, 6-2 winner against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium; and No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska was a 6-1, 6-0 winner against Gisela Dulko, the Argentine who had beaten Justine Henin in the second round.

No. 11 Marion Bartoli ousted American Jill Craybas, 6-2, 6-0.