Defending champ Andy Roddick is on course for a quarterfinal clash with Juan Carlos Ferrero while World No. 1 Roger Federer was handed a prospective quarterfinal with Andre Agassi as the US Open tennis draw was made on Wednesday.
A possible Roddick and Ferrero encounter would be a rematch of last year's final which Roddick won 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
Reigning Australian and Wimbledon champion Federer has been placed in the top half of the men's draw.
The potential Federer-Agassi match would be an electric showdown, but before the Swiss star can start thinking about Agassi he must overcome 2002 Roland Garros winner Costa.
This will be Federer's fifth career meeting with the Spaniard who has won the last two. Costa rallied to beat Federer on clay 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 three months ago in Rome and on hardcourts 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 last year in Miami.
Federer, who has been No. 1 since January 2004, won their first matchup 7-6, 6-2 three years ago in Vienna.
Defending women's champion Justin Henin-Hardenne was drawn to face reigning Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova in the women's quarterfinals.
The winner could square off against red-hot Lindsay Davenport as long as Davenport can defeat fellow American Venus Williams in the fourth round and 2004 French Open champ Anastasia Myskina in the quarters.
The other semifinal should see Venus' sister Serena, a three-time US Open champion, battle Athens Olympic silver medalist Amelie Mauresmo, of France.
Roddick, who turns 32 on the event's opening day, will face fellow American Scoville Jenkins in the first round as Roddick appears to be in one of the easiest quarters of the draw.
Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 US Open champ, will have to negotiate the toughest quarter, which includes Argentine David Nalbandian, French Sebastian Grosjean and Olympic bronze medallist Fernando Gonzalez.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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