Tennis: Pe'er, Azarenka edge into doubles semifinals in Miami

By ALLON SINAI, AP
Shahar Pe'er and doubles partner Victoria Azarenka will face No. 2 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami over the weekend. Pe'er and Azarenka, who are seeded seventh in the prestigious event, defeated wild-cards Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 4-6, 10-6 in the last eight late Wednesday night, guaranteeing themselves more than $50,000. Pe'er exacted a small measure of revenge against Kuznetsova after losing to the Russian in the fourth round of the singles tournament earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Andy Roddick became the lone remaining American in the men's draw when James Blake lost in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. On Friday, Nadal will play 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat No. 31 Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-4. In other tennis news, Patrick McEnroe, the Davis Cup captain and former top-30 player, was hired to oversee player development for the US Tennis Association. The goal is to reverse the recent decline in American fortunes on the men's and women's tours. McEnroe also received a three-year contract extension as Davis Cup coach. Last year, he led the Americans to their first title since 1995.