Mid-American Conference partners with 5 bowl games

CLEVELAND - The Mid-American Conference has partnered with five bowl games for the next four seasons.

The MAC's council of presidents approved yesterday the league's pairing with its primary bowl partners - the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, GMAC Bowl and Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - and two secondary bowls, the Papajohns.com Bowl and Dallas Football Classic.

Last year, the MAC placed five teams in bowl games for only the third time in conference history.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Melanie Oudin will lead off for the U.S. in its Fed Cup semifinal against Russia.

The Americans' No. 1 player faces Russia's No. 2, Alla Kudryavtseva, in the first match of the best-of-five tie today. Bethanie Mattek-Sands will play doubles and singles and opens against Elena Dementieva, ranked No. 6 in the world.

Mattek-Sands also is slated to team with Liezel Huber, the world's No. 1 doubles player, tomorrow. Dementieva doesn't normally play doubles but was inserted into the lineup in a move Huber suggested might be a fakeout.

Both teams are without some of their respective countries' top players. U.S. stars Serena and Venus Williams bowed out with leg injuries.

•BARCELONA - Second-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden cruised into the Barcelona Open semifinals by beating Eduardo Schwank 6-2, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands.

De Bakker upset third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Earlier, Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer won to set up an all-Spanish matchup in the other semifinal.