Pro soccer
TORONTO, FIRE TIE: Toronto's Stefan Frei and the Fire's Sean Johnson made big saves in the final 25 minutes in the teams' 0-0 tie Wednesday night.
Toronto (7-9-7) earned a point to move into ninth place in the overall MLS standings with 28, four behind Seattle and San Jose -- currently in the last two MLS Cup playoff positions. Chicago (6-7-8) is 11th with 26 points.
Toronto FC is 0-3-2 in its last five games, and Chicago is 0-2-2 in its last four.
Pro tennis
DJOKOVIC, ZVONAREVA REACH U.S. OPEN SEMIS: Maybe Novak Djokovic is growing up.
Yes, he was muttering to himself and gesticulating wildly during his 7-6 (2), 6-1, 6-2 victory over 17th-seeded Gael Monfils of France in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday.
And, yes, Djokovic smacked himself in the head twice with his right hand -- after winning a point.
But the 23-year-old Serb managed to figure out how to deal with the swirling wind that topped 20 mph, choosing tactics wisely -- he won points on 40 of 59 trips to the net -- and never allowing Monfils back into the match after a tight first set.
"It might be the case that (I've) developed," 2008 Australian Open champion Djokovic said. "Over time, you get experience playing in the different conditions, different situations."
The wind clearly affected play all day, and there were about a half-dozen points that were stopped because debris wound up near the court during top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki's 6-2, 7-5 victory over 45th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova in the last women's quarterfinal.
"This felt like playing in a hurricane or something," said Wozniacki, who is 19-1 since Wimbledon and has won her past 13 matches.
In Friday's semifinals, the 2009 U.S. Open runner-up will face 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva. She was perfectly steady -- in her mind and with her strokes -- and beat 31st-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 7-5 in Wednesday's first singles match.
Pro golf
WOODS EMBRACING NEW SWING: His swing was a mess, and so was his marriage.
Tiger Woods figured he could only deal with one problem at a time. In this case, golf had to wait its turn.
"Let's just say I've been through a lot lately, and I didn't want to have any more information," Woods said Wednesday at the BMW Championship. "I was trying to get adjusted to my new life and what that entailed, and it was enough as it was. I didn't have time to work on my game. I was dealing with a lot of other things."
In what turned out to be a lost summer in the majors, Woods tried to patch together what he could with his golf swing. His only teacher was a video camera and his memory, and that wasn't nearly enough to get him through four rounds at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, or the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
The do-it-yourself approach gave way to working with Sean Foley, the Canadian-born swing coach who again was with Woods for an hour during his pro-am at Cog Hill for the BMW Championship.
Foley first took video of Woods a month ago at the PGA Championship. Woods already is seeing results. He opened with a season-best 65 at The Barclays and wound up with a tie for 12th. Last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Woods had three rounds in the 60s for the first time this year and tied for 11th.
He needed both results just to keep playing in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which have reached the third round and perhaps the most critical. Woods went from 112th to 65th after the first round, and to 51st after the second round.
Woods is the defending champion and a five-time winner at this public course in the Chicago suburbs.
"It's good to be back," Woods said, pausing to smile before adding, "It's even better to be in the event."
Women's tennis
VU OPENS SEASON WITH VICTORY: Five Valparaiso players played a part in both singles and doubles victories as the host Crusaders defeated Goshen 6-1 in their season opener. Shea Hennessy, Jackie O'Reilly, Kristin Zakiewicz, Stephanie York and Katie Bilyeu picked up wins in both singles and doubles.
Local sports
'PERFECT RIVALS' BOOK SIGNING, DISCUSSION SEPT. 20: Former Times staff writer and current correspondent Jeff Carroll will be on hand to sign autographs and discuss his book "Perfect Rivals" at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at Borders Books and Music in Schaumburg, Ill. The book covers Notre Dame's football rivalry with Miami. Fla.
Girls soccer
MEET THE VIKES TONIGHT: It's Meet the Vikes Night when Valparaiso takes on Munster today at Viking Arena. The junior varsity match will begin at 5 p.m. Admission is free to all children wearing their team jersey. Prizes will be given away during the contests. A special autograph session will take place after the game.
Around the horn
Playmaker 14-and-under softball tryouts will begin at 7 p.m. today at Dave Griffin's baseball school in Griffith. For details, call (219) 992-1107. ... The Portage Bulldawgs are holding tryouts for their 9U, 11U and 12U baseball teams at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Portage Little League Central Avenue Field. Must be a Portage Little League player to participate. For details, go to www.portagebulldawgs.org. ... Georgia star receiver A.J. Green was suspended by the NCAA for four games on Wednesday for selling a bowl jersey for $1,000 to someone who qualifies as an agent.
