Road America would add to the already compelling case Horn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- While top-seeded Novak Djokovic had a rest day when opponent Mikhail Youzhny became ill and withdrew from their quarterfinal on Thursday, Roger Federer had to play his way into their semifinal date at the Dubai Championships. The fourth-seeded Federer, who has won this title five times, won his 40th match at the Dubai Championships with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. Federer made a slow start, falling behind 2-0 but quickly rebounded by winning the next six games. In the second set, Federer broke serve in the third and fifth games. "When you play someone for the first time, you never quite know what his best level is or his normal level is," Federer said. "Thats why you kind of keep pushing on, and thats also why I guess the score came out the way it did, because I never let go." Federer holds a slim 16-15 winning record over Djokovic. The Serbian, however, has beaten Federer in their last three matches, and nine of their last 12 meetings. "He is in the semis, hes already played two matches, hes been here long enough for preparing, and hes fit enough for anything anyway," Federer said of Djokovic having a quarterfinal walkover. "Every match you can get away from is a good one. "For me, it was important also probably not to be out there for three hours. Then it would have been a disadvantage. But I think were back on even terms for tomorrow." The other semifinal will feature third-seeded Tomas Berdych against seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Playing in his fourth quarterfinal of the season, Kohlschreibers 6-2, 6-3 win over Tunisian wild card Malik Jazirivictory was his 300th match-win on the ATP Tour. Berdych holds a 7-1 winning record over Kohlschreiber. "The record is one thing, but then always the match is going to start from zero," Berdych said. "I have seen Philipp play here and hes playing really well. "Hes playing very aggressive, very confident, too." Berdych, who was a finalist last year, fought past fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-3. Berdych was on a 10-match winning streak, which includes his win at the Rotterdam tournament two weeks ago. The first set stayed on serve until Tsonga dropped his at love in the 10th game. The second set was even more tightly contested. In the fifth game, Berdych faced four break points but held on. Tsonga surrendered his serve in the eighth game when he double-faulted on break point. "It was very close," Berdych said. "I faced many break points which was very tough, but that was really the key of todays game, that I managed to save them." Glen Rice Hornets Jersey . -- Center Max Unger and tight end Zach Miller are both probable for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday against the New York Giants and Percy Harvins recovery continues to be slow. Marvin Williams Hornets Jersey . Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years. http://www.hornetsteamproshop.com/Cheap-Frank-Kaminsky-Hornets-Jersey/ . Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Hornets Jersey . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. Bismack Biyombo Jersey . -- Crystal Webster avoided elimination at the 2013 Capital One Road to the Roar Olympic pre-trial curling tournament with an 8-5 win over Amber Holland on Thursday. ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- If Sam Hornish Jr. could do it over, he would be more selective in the way he made the jump from open-wheel racing to NASCAR six years ago. Now, Hornish understands the value of having the right ride. So he relishes his shot to win in the Nationwide series this year -- even if those chances arent coming every week. Hornish, the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner and a three-time series champion in Indy-style racing, is racing a part-time Nationwide schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2014. Hes splitting the No. 54 car with Sprint Cup series star Kyle Busch, so hell only get to race when Busch cant. His next opportunity is Saturdays race at Road America, a scenic 4-mile road course that winds through the tree-lined hills of central Wisconsin. "There were a lot of people that had negative comments about the fact that I was running a part-time schedule," Hornish said. "But you need to look at what the 54 has done over the past couple of years, what the strength of the JGR organization is. I feel like Id rather have seven shots at it with an opportunity to win every time, rather than (a full schedule) and knowing that if I come home 10th, everybody on the team is going to be happy." Hornish took the part-time ride at Gibbs this year after losing his Nationwide ride at Team Penske; despite his second-place finish to Austin Dillon in the Nationwide drivers championship standings in 2013, his sponsorship dried up and the team didnt have a place for him. In three Nationwide races this year -- two in the No. 54 car and one in the No. 20 car -- he has a victory at Iowa, a second-place finish last week at Michigan and a fifth-place finish at Talladega. And he likes his chhances at Road America, where he has finished fifth each of the past two years.dddddddddddd Its one of Hornishs favourite tracks, one he visited as a fan on family vacations and raced on in open-wheel cars early in his career. "I remember sitting down in Turn 5 as a kid watching the Indy car race," Hornish says. "Any time you can go back to a place that you have these happy childhood memories from, from a vacation or whatever it happened to be, thats always a good thing." A win at Road America would add to the already compelling case Hornish is making for another shot at the top-tier Sprint Cup series, where hes still fighting the stigma of the disappointing first impression he made from 2008 to 2010. Getting back to Cup remains his ultimate goal, but he wont necessarily take any opportunity that comes his way. "Im going to be a little more choosy about that at this point in time, because I know that I cant carry the car," Hornish said. "Nobody can. You can put even the best drivers in the Cup series in a car thats not capable of running in the top 15, and they might get a 12th out of it a day here and there. But thats not enough to keep yourself where you want to be or to move up to that next ride." For now, Hornish wants to make the most of the opportunities he has while appreciating the additional time he has at home with his wife and three kids -- a different kind of full-time schedule. "I went to being kind of a glorified limo driver or taxi driver, taking kids here and there," Hornish says. "But its awesome. Theres been so many part of this year that I would have heard about, instead of being able to experience." ' ' '