Sports briefs

Murray knocks off Federer again

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Rafael Nadal is no longer the only hobgoblin in Roger Federer's closet. Andy Murray has taken up residence after he extended his winning streak over Federer to four consecutive matches.

Murray, the laconic young Scot, defeated Federer, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday to advance to the title match today against Nadal, a 6-4, 7-6 (4), winner over Andy Roddick in the other semifinal.

Federer sat atop the world rankings for a record 237 consecutive weeks until his inability to beat Nadal bumped him to No. 2 in August. Nadal is 13-6 against Federer, but Murray is now 6-2, including those four consecutive victories since October. The assumption that Nadal and Federer will play for the championship of any important tournament no longer is valid.

"He's a great counterpuncher and reads the game really well," Federer said of Murray. "He has great feel. So he's very confident at the moment. You can tell, the way he plays."

Murray, 21 and ranked No. 4 in the world, has been difficult on everyone in 2009; his record is 20-1, and the one defeat came when he withdrew before a match with Richard Gasquet last month in Dubai because of illness.

Lions will retire Smith's number for '09

RICHMOND, Va. — The Detroit Lions will retire the number 93 for the 2009 football season in memory of player Corey Smith, one of three men lost when their fishing boat capsized off the Florida Gulf Coast three weeks ago.

Lions player development director Galen Duncan told several hundred mourners in Smith's hometown church Saturday that Smith's number would be retired for a year in honor of a player of extraordinary heart and competitive drive.

"I want to tell you something about Corey Smith playing with pain," Duncan said of Smith, who played with such abandon that high school teammates called him the "Tasmanian Devil."

"I'd tell the coaches, 'You've got to watch Corey because he's not going to tell you he's hurt,' " said Duncan, whom Smith befriended in his three seasons in Detroit. "If you could see the way this man worked."

The Coast Guard rescued one man, Nick Schuyler, who was clinging to the 21-foot boat's overturned hull, on March 2, two days after it overturned in stormy seas. The bodies of Smith, Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, and former University of South Florida player William Bleakley have not been found.