Baddeley leads Woods by two shots

OAKMONT, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -- Australian Aaron Baddeley burst out of a four-way tie on Saturday to grab a two-stroke lead over Tiger Woods going into the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
The 26-year-old Baddeley made back-to-back birdies from the 12th to seize the lead, then bounced back from bogeys at 15 and 16 with a birdie at the last to post an even-par 70 and a two-over-par 212 total.
Woods, playing a near-perfect round from tee to green, took five on the 484-yard 18th for his only bogey in a rock steady round of one-under-par 69 to stand at four-over 214.
"You always dream of playing in majors and having a chance to win going into Sunday," Baddeley told reporters.
"I can only focus on what I'm doing. Today I felt really calm out there and peaceful. My game felt nice. I wasn't trying to press or do anything special."
Officials watered the hard, sloping greens before the start and the demanding Oakmont course played two shots easier than it had on Friday, with the average score 74.68 on Saturday.
Conditions allowed players to shoot more aggressively to the greens, and the flow of birdies and bogeys made for a see-saw struggle on the leaderboard.
Second-round leader Angel Cabrera of Argentina and American Bubba Watson dueled early in the round, with Woods among a pack of players tight on their heels before Baddeley surged ahead.
After missing the cut in his two previous Opens, Baddeley said he was excited about playing in the last group with Woods, as he goes for his first major.
"It's perfect, it's exciting," he said.
"He's the best player in the world, but I feel like I'm playing nicely."
Knotted in third place at five over par, three strokes off the pace, were Britons Paul Casey (72) and Justin Rose (73), Canadian Stephen Ames (73) and American Bubba Watson (74).
A shot further back were Americans Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, the 2003 champion, and second-round leader Cabrera, who finished with two bogeys for a 76.
Australian Geoff Ogilvy, who won last year's Open at Winged Foot, fell out of contention with a 78 that put him 12 shots back.
Watson held the lead briefly before posting a triple-bogey at the 477-yard, par-four ninth hole, where he rushed fluffed a shot in the green-side rough then rushed his follow-up shot.
Woods had birdies at the third and fourth holes and saw numerous other birdie putts that could have shot him into the lead slide just past the cup.
The world number one, chasing his 13th major title, was the last in the field to post a bogey on the warm, humid day.
At 18, Woods hit his tee shot into a bunker, blasted out to the fairway and placed his third shot on the green. He left his 20-foot par-putt on the edge of the hole.
"I didn't drop a shot today until 18, which was nice and that's what ultimately you want to have at a U.S. Open," Woods told reporters.
"I hit a lot of putts that just grazed the edge, but I'm right back in the mix."
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Federer reaches French Open final

PARIS, France -- Roger Federer reached a record eighth consecutive grand slam final by overcoming Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 7-6 7-6 in a thrilling French Open semifinal on Friday.
World number one Federer bettered the record of seven successive final appearances set by Australian Jack Crawford in the 1930s but was made to work for it.
The elegant 25-year-old Swiss, chasing the only grand slam title to elude him, showed more composure when it mattered to set up a final against either defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain or Serbian newcomer Novak Djokovic.
Fourth seed Davydenko, who failed to advance to his first final of a major event, gave his all but it was not enough.
The 26-year-old bowed out by sending a backhand wide on the second match point after just over three hours of high quality tennis.
It was a case of missed opportunities for fourth seed Daydenko who held the lead in each of the three sets and saw Federer save 14 break points.
Federer, who committed 45 unforced errors also had to save three set points in the final set.
"I could have lost in three sets," Federer said. "He's an excellent player. It's a superb win for me before the final."
He is bidding to win his fourth consecutive grand slam title, something last accomplished by Rod Laver in 1969, and 11th overall, which would tie Laver and Bjorn Borg for third on the all-time list.
A dejected Davydenko, who weighs in at a frail 70kg, said he needs to improve his physical durability if he is ever to become Federer's equal.
"I have to find more power," said the Russian.
"Maybe I made a mistake by starting so quickly. I was trying to fight all the time and by the second set I was already very tired. I need to learn how to keep it up for the whole match."

Djokovic into quarters with ease

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- Serbian Novak Djokovic was only seven when Swede Jonas Bjorkman made his debut at Roland Garros but whatever he lacks in experience he made up for with youthful exuberance on Monday as he bounded into the quarterfinals.
Powerful, razor-sharp and fleet-footed, the 20-year-old sixth seed made mincemeat of Spain's Fernando Verdasco, winning 6-3 6-3 7-6 on a humid day at the French Open.
Bjorkman, at 35 the oldest man to reach the fourth round since 1972, started well enough against former champion Carlos Moya before the exertions of the past week caught up with him.
Moya, no youngster himself at 30, now carries the flag for the older generation after a 7-6 6-2 7-5 victory.
Djokovic, the youngest player in the last 16, proved again that he has the game to loosen the Nadal-Federer stranglehold.
Kitted out in bright yellow shirt and black shorts, Djokovic buzzed across the red clay, stinging Verdasco with winners from every conceivable angle.
A single service break was all it needed in the first set and he went 4-0 up in the second to establish complete control against the highest-ranked player he has faced here so far.
Fierce rally
Verdasco, who had a 2-0 career record over Djokovic, made a match of it in the third set but even luck was against him.
A fierce rally at 1-3 in the tiebreak ended when a fizzing Djokovic backhand dropped dead off the netcord.
The Serbian looked to the heavens, arms aloft, but he needed no further assistance from above as he closed out the match.
Bjorkman defied conventional wisdom last year by getting to the semi-finals of Wimbledon and said on Saturday that reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros in the twilight of his admirable career was on a par.
When he moved into an early 3-0 lead and threatened a double break it even looked possible that the dream run might continue, but although the mind was willing his body began to fail him.
Twenty-third seed Moya, the 1998 champion and still a force on clay, recovered from a sluggish start to take the first set on a tiebreak and then cruised through the second.
Bjorkman, who came back from two-set deficits in the first two rounds here, needed treatment on his shoulder at the end of the second set and although he gamely hung on in the third, there was no way back on this occasion.
In later play defending champion Rafael Nadal was facing Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis was taking on Russian Igor Andreev.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Jankovic knocks out Venus in Paris

PARIS, France -- Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic underlined her credentials as a leading contender for the French Open title with a three-set victory over Venus Williams in the third round on Friday.
Jankovic won 6-4 4-6 6-1, reserving her finest play for the third set after the American had bravely fought back to force a decider.
The 22-year-old Serbian has claimed three titles on the WTA tour this season and won the Tier One claycourt tournament in Rome earlier this month.
Williams, who reached the final at Roland Garros in 2002 but missed the last two grand slam tournaments because of injuries, also lost to Jankovic in the third round at Wimbledon last year.
"The third set went a little bit faster than what I expected," Williams said. "I felt a little bit slow ... I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them."
Jankovic dominated the five-time major champion in the first set, winning 20 of the 24 points played in her service games, including the first 10.
Williams, who had hit a world record 206 kph service in the previous round, immediately broke to take a 3-0 lead in the second set and held on to level affairs after 80 minutes without every looking entirely convincing.
Jankovic, who reached the semifinals at the 2006 U.S. Open, broke Williams in the third game of the deciding set and took advantage of a weak double-fault in the fifth to break again for a 4-1 lead.
With Williams wilting, the next two games went to Jankovic as she wrapped up victory in an hour and 53 minutes following a lengthy rally.
Jankovic, who has never before progressed to the last 16 at Roland Garros, will meet either former runner-up Elena Dementieva or France's Marion Bartoli.
"I stayed mentally very strong in third set and I really went for my shots," Jankovic said.
"I was a little bit tired in the second set, but I just went for it in the third and it paid off."
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

FIA probes McLaren's Monaco win

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Formula One's governing body said on Monday it was investigating McLaren for a possible breach of the rules in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
"The FIA has launched an investigation into incidents involving the McLaren Mercedes team at the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix in light of a possible breach of the International Sporting Code," the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement.
"The relevant evidence is under review and a further announcement will be made in due course."
Double world champion Fernando Alonso won the showcase race for the second year in a row, ahead of British rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The two are now level on 38 points but Spaniard Alonso leads the championship on race wins.
Hamilton revealed afterwards that he had been told to ease off rather than put pressure on Alonso and possibly jeopardise the one-two.
Team orders, effectively manipulating the outcome of a race, have been banned in Formula One since the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix where Ferrari ordered Brazilian Rubens Barrichello to let Michael Schumacher win.
However, McLaren team boss Ron Dennis denied any such manipulation on Sunday.
"We don't have team orders, we had a strategy to win this race," he said.
"I make no excuses for instructing the racing drivers to slow their pace after the first stop and to effect our strategy."
A FIA spokesman declined to say what possible sanction might be faced by the team, who lead Ferrari by 20 points in the championship after winning two of the season's five races so far.
"You can all give whatever twist or headline you want on it, my job is sometimes difficult and today was one of those times," Dennis added on Sunday.
"There will be places where they will be absolutely free to race, but this isn't one of them."
"This is a place where one driver pushing another driver... is the way to induce a mistake," he continued.
"Everyone in the pit lane would be saying what an idiot the team principal of McLaren is for allowing their cars to compete to a level where one of their cars and maybe two of them are in the barrier."
Hamilton had qualified with a far heavier fuel load than Alonso -- a tactical move that would have won him the race had the safety car come out and given an advantage to those able to make only one stop. In the end, the safety car stayed in.
Timely boost
The 22-year-old Hamilton celebrated his fifth podium in five races, but victory gave Spaniard Alonso a timely boost after being beaten by his team-mate in his last two races.
"It means a lot, psychologically and also for the championship battle," said Alonso after securing McLaren's 150th grand prix win and second one-two of the season.
"I enjoyed today and that's probably the best thing about today."
Despite winning two of the season's five races so far, the 25-year-old is facing his toughest team-mate yet in Hamilton.
Alonso has yet to gel fully with his new team after switching from Renault while Hamilton has been a McLaren protege for more than a decade.
There have been rumors of discord, speculation stamped on by team boss Ron Dennis at the weekend.
"Our personal relationship is absolutely perfect. We talk between races, we eat together, he comes to my home when he comes to England," Dennis told reporters.
"He is still going up a curve of getting to know people, to trust people and feel comfortable with everybody and that is not something Lewis has had to do.
"But Fernando is a wonderful chap. He is quiet, thoughtful, worries endlessly about everything, but just loves being in a racing car."
Alonso particularly enjoyed his second straight win at Monaco. "I never won with more than a minute to the third guy. For sure, this is the easiest and probably the nicest victory so far," he said.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.