TENNIS

Murray moves on to Sony Ericsson final as Nadal pulls out because of knee injury

Rafael Nadal withdrew hours before the start of his semifinal Friday at the Sony Ericsson Open because of a left knee injury that bothered him in recent matches.

With Nadal’s withdrawal, 2009 champion Andy Murray advanced to Sunday’s final. He’ll face top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who beat Juan Monaco, 6-0, 7-6 (5).

Nadal said his knee has been getting worse and extensive treatment Thursday failed to help. He said he’ll see a doctor soon but is optimistic he’ll be out only briefly.

HIGH SCHOOLS

FOOTBALL: Mike Marston resigned after eight seasons as Skowhegan’s head coach.

Marston, 57, had a record of 40-37 at Skowhegan, including 5-4 last fall. He previously served as an assistant coach at Colby College and was head coach at Messalonskee in the 1980s.

BASKETBALL

OLYMPICS: The U.S. women’s basketball team headed to the London Olympics this summer will have a familiar feel for Coach Geno Auriemma.

Five former Connecticut players – Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash, Maya Moore and Tina Charles – are on the roster. All are holdovers from the team that won the gold medal at the 2010 world championships.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings is also on the roster, along with Candace Parker, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Lindsay Whalen and Angel McCoughtry. The U.S. has until June 18 to select one more player.

SKIING

U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: Julia Mancuso flew through a sun-splashed course and conquered the soft snow to defend her super-G crown at Winter Park, Colo.

The Olympic gold medalist earned her record 14th national title with a time of 1:10.38, beating Leanne Smith by 1.2 seconds. Laurenne Ross was third.

Mancuso extended her record to 14 national titles. She’s coming off a stellar World Cup season in which she won two events.

Dustin Cook of Canada won the men’s super-G, beating defending champion Tommy Ford by 0.04 seconds. Brennan Rubie and Jared Goldberg tied for third.

FIGURE SKATING

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Defending champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the pairs title for the fourth time, edging Russia’s Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov at Nice, France.

Patrick Chan of Canada overcame some wobbly footwork to capture the men’s short program. He’s trying to become the first man to win back-to-back world titles since Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland in 2005-06.