Roger Federer of Switzerland follows through on a serve to Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during a match at the BNP Paribas Open tournament on Monday in Indian Wells, Calif.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State University will appeal the part of an NCAA sanction that would take away wins in 10 sports, including as many as 14 in football.
President T.K. Wetherell will announce the school’s appeal Tuesday.
Trustees chairman Jim Smith says the board is 100 percent behind the decision. “It’s certainly unfair to coach (Bobby) Bowden,” Smith said Monday. “It was a breakdown in academics, a breakdown that none of us condone.”
The NCAA earlier this month took away scholarships and put the school on four years’ probation as part of the punishment for 61 athletes who took a music history class where test answers were provided and other prohibited help was received.
Bowden could also lose 14 wins from the 2006 and 2007 seasons when players who took the class played. More than two dozen football players were suspended for four games after the school discovered the cheating.
“I feel for coach Bowden,” said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who earned his undergraduate degree at Florida State. “I doubt that he had any knowledge what was happening with some of those students.”
Federer, Murray advance
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Roger Federer and Andy Murray each took a step closer to a possible showdown in the semifinals with relatively routine victories during third-round matches Monday at the BNP Paribas Open.
Federer, a three-time Indian Wells winner ranked No. 2 and trying for another shot against No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the title match, downed Ivo Karlovic 7-6(4), 6-3.
Playing his first event since withdrawing from the Dubai tournament and the first round of Davis Cup because of back problems, Federer came up with big shots when needed against Karlovic.
Federer said afterward that he wasn’t sure if his game is coming together.
“It’s tough to say. I don’t think I’ve had an awful lot of rhythm in my last two matches. Even in my first match, there was quite a bit of serving going on,” Federer said.
“I don’t think I’ve had to face break point yet in the first two matches, so that’s a good thing. That kind of keeps you a bit relaxed. I’m seeing the ball OK. My baseline game, I can’t really judge it.”
Down 3-1 in the tiebreaker, the Swiss star evened it with points on a volley past Karlovic, then a low, hard forehand that the Croatian couldn’t handle. Karlovic, ranked No. 28, then made a series of unforced errors, including hitting a forehand long for the final point of the tiebreaker.
Federer, who had said he was rusty coming into Indian Wells, looked considerably sharper in the second set, reeling off the hard, accurate groundstrokes that made him the world’s top player for so long.
The 21-year-old Murray, a Scot ranked No. 4 and off to a 17-1 start this season, overpowered Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-2. Murray served six aces, won 21 of 25 first-serve points and jumped on his French opponent’s second serve to take 17 of 24 points.
“I served big when I needed to and moved very well again,” Murray said. “Bar a couple of games where I lost my concentration a little bit, it was a very solid match.”
NHL: Predators win
LOS ANGELES – Ryan Jones scored the go-ahead goal with 2:18 remaining, Joel Ward had a goal and an assist, and J.P. Dumont had two assists, leading the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.
With their eighth victory in 11 games, the Predators overtook Dallas and Edmonton in the Western Conference playoff race and moved into seventh place. They are a point ahead of the Stars, and lead the ninth-place Oilers by two with 12 games remaining.
Thrashers 5, Capitals 1: At Atlanta, Kari Lehtonen made a career-high 49 saves, and Slava Kozlov and Tobias Enstrom each had a goal and an assist to help Atlanta win a team-record sixth straight game.