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Serena and Sharapova Set for French Open Bids

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, two players better known for their hardcourt and grasscourt abilities, are the form players going into the climax of the claycourt season at the French Open.

Between them they won the four main leadup events on the surface at Charleston and Madrid for the American and at Stuttgart and Rome for the Russian.

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Football: Barca Give Guardiola Perfect Cup Send Off

Barcelona gave coach Pep Guardiola the perfect send off, beating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Friday to win the Spanish Cup on the coach's last match in charge after a memorable four seasons in the Catalan hot seat,

Lionel Messi, with his 73rd of the season, and a Pedro Rodriguez double got the goals inside the first half an hour to finish off the Basque side and deliver Guardiola his 14th and final trophy at the club.

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NBA: Knicks Ink Coach Woodson to Multi-Year Deal

Mike Woodson, who guided the New York Knicks to the NBA playoffs after taking over as interim coach in March, signed a multi-year contract extension, the team said Friday.

"Mike took over the team under challenging circumstances and made it clear, starting on day one, that he was going to hold every player on our roster accountable," said James Dolan, executive chairman of the Madison Square Garden Company that owns the Knicks.

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Swimming: Japan's Terakawa Lays Down Olympic Marker

Japan's Aya Terakawa clocked the world's second fastest time of the season to win the women's 100 meters backstroke at the Japan Open swimming championships, laying down a marker ahead of the Olympics.

The world 50m silver medalist, who set a new Japanese record at the national championships in April to qualify for the Olympics, improved on it with a time of 59.08 seconds on Friday, beating Shiho Sakai into second place.

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Muslim Athletes Consider Delaying Fast in London

When Qatari sprinter Noor al-Malki makes her debut at the London Olympics, she will not be among those contending for a medal. Breaking her own national record in the 100 meters will be enough of a prize.

But even this modest goal presents a challenge.

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All Eyes on Nadal, Djokovic as French Open Nears

Rafael Nadal's white T-shirt carried specks of rust-colored clay and his white socks were smothered with the stuff during a practice session on Court Philippe Chatrier in the steamy early afternoon Thursday.

As Nadal slid across his favorite surface, in his favorite stadium, at his favorite tournament, a picture of a shiny French Open trophy rotated on a video board overhead. Under the close watch of his coach, and fully focused on the work at hand, Nadal never stole a glance at that photo. No need: He ought to have every feature of that prize memorized by now.

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IOC still Working with Saudis on Women's Issue

Describing talks with Saudi Arabia as "not an easy situation," IOC President Jacques Rogge said the Olympic body is still working with the Gulf country on sending female athletes to the London Games.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only countries that have never field women on their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have announced plans to take female athletes to London, the Saudis have not yet done so.

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Guardiola Aims to End Barcelona Reign with Cup Win

Barcelona can cap four illustrious years under Pep Guardiola with a 14th trophy when it plays Athletic Bilbao in Friday's Copa del Rey final.

The match at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium will be Guardiola's last in charge of the team, ending an unprecedented period of success for Barcelona since the former player took charge in 2008.

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Heat Halt Pacers to Reach Eastern Conference Finals

Dwyane Wade scored 41 points and NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James added 28 Thursday as the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 105-93 to reach the Eastern Conference finals.

After falling behind 2-1 in the-best-of-seven second-round series, the star-studded Heat won three straight games to advance to the conference finals.

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Doha and Baku Cut from 2020 Olympic Bid Field

The race for the 2020 Olympics will come down to a contest between Madrid, Tokyo, and Istanbul after the IOC trimmed the field Wednesday, once again rejecting Doha's bid to take the games to tiny Qatar.

Doha and Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, were eliminated as the International Olympic Committee settled on a shortlist of three finalists. Both cities also failed to make the cut for the 2016 Games.

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