Federer holds off Berdych

4th seed ‘ incredibly lucky’ in surviving twomatch points

Roger Federer’s run at the Miami Open was one point from ending. Down 6-4 in a third-set tiebreaker to Tomas Berdych, the situation was officially dire. Yet even in that moment, Federer still felt some hope.

“I had belief I could turn it around, even then,” he said.

Somehow, he was right. The fourth-seeded Federer fought off those two match points and beat the 10th-seeded Berdych 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarterfinals on Thursday — avenging a third-set tiebreaker loss to Berdych at Key Biscayne seven years ago in a match he still thinks he should have won.

“I got incredibly lucky,” Federer said. “Could have gone either way. Felt like maybe this one I should have lost.”

Federer feels right at home at Key Biscayne, and so does Caroline Wozniacki. The 12th-seeded Wozniacki, a part-time South Florida resident, made the women’s final for the first time in 10 tries by topping secondseeded Karolina Pliskova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1

Wozniacki will play No. 10 Johanna Konta in Saturday’s championship match.

Konta topped No. 11 Venus Williams 6-4, 7-5 in the second semifinal.

Hockey

Team captain Meghan Duggan and her U.S. hockey teammates were on the ice practicing in Plymouth, Michigan, just where they wanted to be, two days after agreeing to a deal that avoided a boycott — and a little more than 24 hours before playing rival Canada in the world championship opener for both teams. The American women made a bold move earlier this month, publicly threatening to not show up at the marquee event at USA Hockey arena, and it paid off when the off-ice battle ended Tuesday night with a four-year deal.

Football

Cam Newton is at home recovering from surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. Newton, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2015, suffered the injury last December. The Panthers expect Newton will be ready for training camp.

Tennessee Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker, New Orleans Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan and Miami cornerback Byron Maxwell will take part in a weeklong USO tour to southwest Asia visiting U.S. troops and families at military bases.

Soccer

Projected starter Harold Cummings won’t make his Earthquakes’ debut for at least four months after undergoing surgery Thursday for a leg injury, the team announced. Cummings, a Panamanian international defender, had an operation to repair a highankle sprain and fractured fibula. He suffered the injury in an undisclosed accident at home, according to a team news release. Cummings, 25, could miss from four to six months after having yet to appear this year because he underwent a sports hernia surgery just before the season.

nFC Dallas has agreed to a long-term contract extension with coach Oscar Pareja after the club won the U.S. Open Cup and had the best record in Major League Soccer last season.