Djokovic to face Nadal in Monte Carlo semifinals
MONACO — Winning a game against Novak Djokovic these days is quite an achievement. Even when you’re an U.S. Open champion. Djokovic won the first eight games of his Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal match Friday before Marin Cilic managed to hold his serve, raising a thumb in the air to celebrate. The momentum change was short- lived, though, with the top-ranked Djokovic powering his way into the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
FOOTBALL
› CLEVELAND — Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel has expressed remorse and asked for privacy following a 10- week stay in rehab. In his first public comments since he entered a treatment facility on Jan. 28, Manziel apologized to the Browns and their fans and acknowledged he has a long way to go to win back people’s respect. “I owe private apologies to a lot of people that I disappointed but a very public one to the Browns organization and the fans that I let down,” Manziel said in the released statement Friday by the Browns. “I take full responsibility for my actions and it’s my intention to work very hard to regain everyone’s trust and respect. I understand that will take time and will only happen through what I do and not what I say.”
SWIMMING
› MESA, Ariz. — Michael Phelps failed to qualify for the 400- meter freestyle final in Arizona on Friday, finishing 17th overall in his first meet since serving a six-month suspension. Swimming in a far outside lane, the 18-time Olympic gold medalist was fourth in his heat with a time of 4 minutes, 2.67 seconds. That put him in the C final, but Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman said he won’t swim it. It was Phelps’ first time swimming the 400 free in a meet since 2009. He had said he wanted to try the race as a personal challenge. “Just to see how much I can do and how much I can hang,” he said Thursday night.
BASKETBALL
› ATLANTA — Hawks forward Thabo Sefolosha is recovering from surgery on his right leg, which he said was injured during his arrest by New York police last week. The team said Sefolosha had surgery Thursday to repair a fractured fibula and ligament damage. The operation was perform-ed by Dr. Robert Anderson at the Ortho-Carolina Foot & Ankle Institute in Charlotte, N. C. Sefolosha will miss the playoffs, with an expected recovery period of about six months. The team hopes he’ll be ready for the start of training camp next season.
› NEW YORK — NBA owners held their first serious discussions about the playoff format, though commissioner Adam Silver said Friday it was too soon to tell if there was interest in changing it. The playoffs will open today without the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished ninth in the Western Conference with a 45-37 record that would have made them the No. 6 seed in the weaker East. Two teams in the East field finished below .500, renewing calls to make the playoffs for the best 16 teams, instead of the current top eight in each conference. Silver said owners reviewed data over about 30 years, while also considering the need for traditional rivalries born out of having divisions and conferences. “When we presented all the data to the teams, what becomes clear is that there is no obvious solution,” Silver said. “It’s not to say that we don’t think there should be a change. I think this is one of these issues that is going to require a fair amount of discussion and study, not just directly among the owners in the big room, with committees as well.”