Caroline Wozniacki overcame windy conditions and beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets Wednesday night to reach the semifinals at the U.S. Open. The No. 1 seed from Denmark won her 13th straight match by virtue of the 6-2, 7-5 score at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Wozniacki, who was last year's runner- up to Kim Clijsters, has captured titles in Montreal and New Haven during her current winning streak. Earlier in the day, seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva reached her second straight Grand Slam semifinal by handling 31st- seeded Kaia Kanepi, 6-3, 7-5 on another sun-filled afternoon at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. She'll next tangle with Wozniacki in Friday's semifinals. The other final-four bout will pit second-seeded and defending champion Clijsters against third-seeded former titlist Venus Williams.

On the men's side, Roger Federer advanced to his seventh straight U.S. Open semifinal by avenging a loss earlier this year to Swede Robin Soderling with a three-set triumph Wednesday night. The second-seeded Federer, attempting to win the tournament for the sixth time, earned a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the fifth-seeded Soderling in windy conditions in the final match of the night at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Next up for the super Swiss will be third seed Novak Djokovic, who took out 17th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 6-2, in the day session. The remaining two quarterfinal matches will take place Thursday, as Rafael Nadal meets fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia squares off against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green was given a four-game suspension because he sold his Independence Bowl game jersey to an individual who meets the NCAA definition of an agent. The NCAA's student-athlete reinstatement committee announced the decision Wednesday, saying Green was ruled ineligible for violations of NCAA agent benefit rules. Green sold the jersey for $1,000, but repaid the value of it to a charity. Green already missed a season-opening 55-7 win over Louisiana and will sit out this Saturday's contest when the No. 22 Bulldogs visit 24th-ranked South Carolina. He'll also miss the September 18 home game against Arkansas and the following week's contest at Mississippi State. Georgia athletics director Greg McGarity confirmed the school will appeal the decision to the student-athlete reinstatement committee. Green will remain ineligible until the conclusion of the appeals process. Green caught 53 passes for 808 yards and six touchdowns last season as a sophomore after catching a freshman school-record 56 passes in 2008.

Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram will likely miss top-ranked Alabama's upcoming game against No. 18 Penn State as he continues to recover from knee surgery performed last week. The junior running back was hurt during practice on August 30 and underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee the next day. He sat out the top-ranked Crimson Tide's opener against San Jose State. Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said Ingram has made progress and probably won't have practiced enough to play this Saturday, but could be ready for Alabama's September 18 game at Duke.

Auburn, the 21st-ranked team in the nation, opens the 2010 Southeastern Conference season Thursday night when the Tigers visit Mississippi State. Auburn opened its season last weekend with a 52-26 victory over Arkansas State, while the Bulldogs rolled past Memphis in their opener by a 49-7 final. Auburn has never lost an SEC game (4-0) when playing on Thursday night. The Tigers' last Thursday night SEC game was a 42-14 victory at Mississippi State in 2002.

New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada did not play in Wednesday's 3-2 victory over Baltimore, and may have a concussion after a foul ball struck him during Tuesday's game. Francisco Cervelli got the start as the battery mate for rookie hurler Ivan Nova. Following the tests, Yankees training staff decided to send him to New York-Presbyterian Hospital for evaluation. So far this season, Posada is hitting .262 with 17 homers and 53 RBI.

Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson will miss his next scheduled start because of shoulder and back pain. Johnson was slated to pitch Friday against Washington, but the Marlins now plan to start Alex Sanabia for that contest. Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said Johnson would be heading back to Miami to have his ailing shoulder and back examined. Johnson owns a record off 11-6 with a 2.30 earned run average in 28 starts this season, but the right-hander is just 2-3 with a 3.50 ERA in 10 outings since the All-Star break.

Coming off their first Super Bowl title in franchise history, the New Orleans Saints will open the NFL season by hosting the Minnesota Vikings Thursday night in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game. The game will again feature two of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league as Brett Favre will start under center for Minnesota for a second straight season. Drew Brees, who engineered the Saints to the No. 1 scoring offense last year, including leading his team to a win over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl, starts his fifth season in a New Orleans uniform. Favre, whose key interception helped deflate Minnesota in last January's 31-28 overtime loss to the Saints, will begin his 20th season in the league. He enters the season needing three TD passes to become the first ever with 500.

The Miami Dolphins have signed former Pro Bowl return specialist Clifton Smith, who spent the previous two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith has played 20 games in his NFL career and was a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie in 2008. He averaged 27.6 yards on 36 kickoff returns in his first year, then led the NFL last year with a kickoff return average of 29.1 yards. A pair of concussions, however, limited Smith to just 11 games in 2009. He also averaged 10.1 yards on 23 punt returns last year. The Dolphins opened a roster spot by waiving offensive lineman Joe Reitz, who was claimed off waivers this past Sunday.