Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat Maria Sharapova of Russia in fourth-round match | U.S. Open tennis

Tennis

Top-seeded Dane reaches quarterfinals: Grit was not going to be enough to get Russian Maria Sharapova through Monday's fourth-round match at the U.S. Open in New York.

Not with nine double faults and 36 unforced errors.

And certainly not with top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark across the net, doing "what she does best," as Sharapova put it: getting to nearly every ball and hammering it back, stretching points until her opponent misses.

It added up to a 6-3, 6-4 victory for Wozniacki over Sharapova, who has failed to make it as far as the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows since she won the 2006 title.

"I felt like I was playing well out there," the 20-year-old Wozniacki said. "I made her do those errors."

Wozniacki has lost 10 games so far; no one has conceded fewer en route to the U.S. Open quarterfinals since 1999. She has 40 unforced errors in four matches, compared with 123 for her opponents.

In men's play, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat American Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 and No. 2 Roger Federer of Switzerland also advanced.

Federer reached the quarterfinals at a 26th consecutive major tournament, beating No. 13 Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Basketball

U.S. team advances to quarterfinal round against Russia: Before it can win a FIBA world championship, the United States needed to start looking like a world champion.

Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups and the rest of the Americans finally had that appearance, powering into the quarterfinals with a 121-66 victory over Angola in Istanbul, Turkey.

With Billups scoring 16 of his 19 points and ex-Sonic Durant all of his 17 in the first half, the Americans saved their most impressive performance in Turkey for the elimination stage, overwhelming the Angolans from the start after a couple of lackluster performances against Iran and Tunisia to close the group stage.

"We don't want to be a team that's going to turn it on and off," Durant said.

Eric Gordon and Rudy Gay also scored 17 points for the Americans, who will face Russia on Thursday night.

Auto racing

Dixon gets 10th Top Fuel win of season: Larry Dixon raced to his 10th victory of the season in Top Fuel at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Clermont, Ind.

Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car), Greg Stanfield (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners in their respective categories.

Olympics

Injury report: Snowboardcross was the most hazardous sport at this year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver, with nearly 75 percent of female athletes suffering injuries during the rough-and-tumble races.

According to a medical study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, at least 11 percent of all athletes at the Vancouver Games suffered injuries — including 20 concussions.

The study reported 287 injuries among the 2,567 athletes, including a "catastrophic injury" that caused the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training crash a few hours before the opening ceremony Feb. 12.

"Overall, we are a little concerned about the increasing number of injuries that are not just minor," said Arne Ljungqvist, International Olympic Committee medical commission head.

The findings are based on reports from 82 national-team doctors and designated medical centers in Vancouver and Whistler.

Horse racing

Mr Piloto wins $1.9 million All American Futurity: Mr Piloto, a 22-1 shot, beat 2-1 favorite Jls Mr Bigtime by a nose to win the $1.9 million All American Futurity for 2-year-old quarter horses at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

Mr Piloto, a colt trained by Felipe Quintero and ridden by Esgar Ramirez, ran 440 yards in 21.55 seconds and paid $46.60 to win in the Grade I event.

Jls Mr Bigtime was a nose in front of third-place Dominyun, a 7-1 shot.

Boys At Tosconova prevails at Saratoga: Boys At Tosconova beat Stay Thirsty by 1 ¾ lengths to win the Grade I Hopeful for 2-year-old Thoroughbreds on the closing day of the season at Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Boys At Tosconova, trained by Rick Dutrow Jr. and ridden by Ramon Dominguez, ran 7 furlongs in 1:23.27. The colt paid $3.10 to win in the $237,500 race.

Todd Pletcher led trainers at the 40-day meeting with a Saratoga-record 36 victories. John Velazquez won the riding title with 57 victories.

At least 27 horses die in fire: At least 27 Thoroughbred racehorses died near West Virginia's Charles Town Races after a fire broke out at a group of privately owned stables, local and race officials said.

Seattle Times news services