Spain's David Ferrer rallied in the fifth set to outlast Serbian Janko Tipsarevic and advance to the U.S. Open semifinals on Thursday after a marathon battle that lasted four hours and 31 minutes.

Fourth seed Ferrer matched his best Grand Slam showing by reaching the final four on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts with a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) victory over the eighth seed.

She was the first person he called after he got the call. And Cheryl Miller will be on stage to present her brother, Reggie, when he is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

It's an honor that can only go to a previous inductee.

Sydney FC has received an instant boost from its signing of Italian football great Alessandro Del Piero, with huge numbers of fans logging on to its ticketing websites and fan forums on Thursday.

The interest was so high that the A-League club extended its deadline for club membership renewals by 48 hours, hoping to cash in on the arrival of the former Italy and Juventus forward and recoup some of the reported $4 million it will pay the 37-year-old over two seasons.

On an emotion-filled afternoon that morphed into a shocker of an evening, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer both bid farewell to Flushing Meadows.

Roddick is leaving for good, a moment he knew would come this week.

Alberto Contador held on to his advantage after making an audacious break to win the 17th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Wednesday and take the overall lead from Joaquin Rodriguez.

The two-time Tour de France champion drew on his experience by making a gutsy dash more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the finish and nothing but mountain to climb to the finish atop the Fuente De.

About 300 angry fans stormed the headquarters of Egypt's Football Association in Cairo on Wednesday, protesting a decision to resume league games next month before bringing to justice perpetrators of a deadly stadium riot.

The February 1 riot, in which 74 people were killed, erupted in the city of Port Said on the Mediterranean, where Al-Ahly, Egypt's most popular team, played the home team Al-Masry in a league game. Al-Masry won, 3-1.

As Formula One prepares to race in Ferrari's home grand prix at Monza this weekend, safety still dominates discussion.

Championship leader and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso nearly had his head clipped when Romain Grosjean's Lotus flew over him in a wild multi-car accident at the start of last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Former Italy and Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero is joining Sydney FC in a deal that will make him the highest-profile player in the A-League.

"I'm happy to announce that a few hours ago I signed a deal with the Sydney Football Club," Del Piero said on Wednesday. "So for the next two years I suppose I can say that I'll be Australian. I'm starting a splendid and fantastic adventure. I couldn't have chosen a better situation or a better place."

Cristiano Ronaldo is still "feeling sad" at Real Madrid but denies it's because of money as he committed himself to the Spanish club on Tuesday.

Ronaldo revealed his feelings after scoring twice in a 3-0 victory against Granada in the Spanish league on Sunday, saying professional reasons had made him unhappy at Madrid without revealing them.

Belgian driver Jerome d'Ambrosio was called up on Tuesday to drive in place of the suspended Romain Grosjean for the Lotus team in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

D'Ambrosio is Lotus's reserve driver and gets his chance after Grosjean was penalized for his reckless start in last Sunday's Belgian race which provoked an accident that saw Lewis Hamilton and series leader Fernando Alonso's races end at the first corner.