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Serena Williams says she's reaching out to the family of the victim in the Steubenville rape case after the tennis star was quoted in a Rolling Stone article saying "she shouldn't have put herself in that position." "I am currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article," Williams said in a statement released through her agent Wednesday. "What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame." The comment was made in one paragraph of a lengthy story posted online Tuesday about Williams, a 16-time Grand Slam title winner who is ranked No. 1 heading into

ROSMALEN, Netherlands (AP) — Second-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 7-6 (8) Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Topshelf Open on the grass courts of Rosmalen. The Italian never managed to seriously threaten Wawrinka's serve until the 12th game of the second set, when he broke the Swiss to force a tiebreak. He then fought off three match points before finally succumbing 10-8 to the No. 10-ranked Wawrinka, who next plays Jeremy Chardy. Second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova reached the women's quarterfinals by coming from a set down to beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Earlier, the last two remaining Dutch players lost their second-round matches.

LONDON (AP) — Two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova has pulled out of Wimbledon because of an abdominal strain. The Russian was seeded No. 26 at the All England Club. Her withdrawal moves 33rd-ranked Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic into the seedings at No. 32. Kuznetsova won the U.S. Open in 2004 and the French Open in 2009. She's never progressed past the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The third Grand Slam of the year begins Monday.

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — Top-seeded Milos Raonic was upset 6-2, 7-6 (7) by Ivan Dodig in the second round at the Eastbourne grass-court tournament on Wednesday. The Canadian struggled from the start, dropping his serve in the opening game and again to fall behind 5-2. He failed to convert a break point as Dodig served for the set. The second set went with serve and Raonic failed to convert a set point in the tiebreaker before Dodig clinched the match. Earlier, Marion Bartoli of France withdrew from the tournament with a viral infection, giving No. 2-seeded Li Na of China a walkover into the quarterfinals. Later, 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber plays 2010 champion Elena Makarova and Petra Kvitova faces Yanina Wickma

If Rafael Nadal is going to win Wimbledon for a third time, he'll have to do it the hard way. Fresh from winning his eighth French Open, Nadal is seeded only No. 5 at Wimbledon — setting up the possibility of a quarterfinal match against title contenders Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. The All England Club released the seedings Wednesday for this year's grass-court Grand Slam, which starts Monday. The top five in the ATP rankings remain in their positions: Djokovic at No. 1, followed by Murray, Federer, David Ferrer and Nadal. Nadal slipped down the rankings after being sidelined for about seven months with a left knee injury following his surprise loss to Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon las

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — Marion Bartoli of France has withdrawn from the Eastbourne grass-court tournament with a viral infection, giving No. 2-seeded Li Na of China a walkover into the quarterfinals. Bartoli, the 2011 champion, reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Flavia Pennetta of Italy on Monday. Later Wednesday, 2012 runner-up Angelique Kerber of Germany was paired against 2010 champion Elena Makarova of Russia and Czech Petra Kvitova faced Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. In the men's draw, top-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada plays Croatia's Igor Dodig and second-seeded Gilles Simon of France plays Britain's Kyle Edmund.

Serena Williams says in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that, while not blaming the victim in the Steubenville rape case, "she shouldn't have put herself in that position." The comment is made in one paragraph of a lengthy story posted online Tuesday about Williams, a 16-time Grand Slam title winner who is ranked No. 1 heading into Wimbledon, which starts next week. Two players from the celebrated Steubenville, Ohio, high school football team were convicted in March of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl; one of the boys was ordered to serve an additional year for photographing the girl naked. The case gained widespread attention in part because of the callousness with which other students used social media to gossip a

After 16 consecutive years of always showing up at Wimbledon, winning five titles along the way, Venus Williams pulled out of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament Tuesday, citing a lower back injury. Williams, who turned 33 on Monday, never had missed Wimbledon since making her debut there in 1997, although she lost in the first round a year ago. She won the singles trophy — it happens to be called the Venus Rosewater Dish — in 2000-01, 2005 and 2007-08, to go with two more major championships at the U.S. Open in 2000-01. But Williams has been dealing with a bad back for a while, playing only three matches in the last two-plus months.

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — American qualifier Jamie Hampton upset top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6 (2), 6-2 Tuesday in the first round at Eastbourne on Tuesday. Radwanska, who won the title in 2008, struggled throughout the match at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament. Although Radwanska tied it 5-5 when Hampton served for the first set and held a set point at 6-5, she was overwhelmed in the tiebreaker and failed to rally in the second set. The 41st-ranked Hampton maintained her composure when No. 4 Radwanska rallied late in the first set. "I was a little rattled, yeah," Hampton said. "Last time we played something similar happened, so I was like, 'I'm not going to crack. I'm going to hold on and get to a tiebrea

ROSMALEN, Netherlands (AP) — French Open finalist David Ferrer lost his first-round match Tuesday at the Topshelf Open, a grass-court tournament held the week before Wimbledon. A single service break in the second set was enough for Xavier Malisse of Belgium to beat the defending champion and top-seeded Ferrer in straight sets, 7-6 (3), 6-3. "I think I need to play more on grass to get into it," Ferrer said. "I can now train for a few days in London. I have to stay positive; my focus is now on my first match at Wimbledon." Second-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka edged Steve Darcis 7-6 (5), 6-4. Darcis was a late replacement for Dutchman Igor Sijsling, who pulled out with a stomach problem.

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — Li Na advanced to the second round at Eastbourne on Tuesday, beating Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-4. She'll next play 2011 champion Marion Bartoli. Play was suspended at 3-2 in the second set when a spectator collapsed in the stands. Also advancing were Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-4, and Petra Kvitova, who stopped Monica Niculescu 6-4, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki led 6-2, 2-2 when defending champion Tamira Paszek retired with a left-thigh injury.

LONDON (AP) — Steve Johnson of the United States joined Frenchman Nicolas Mahut as a wild card at Wimbledon. The 100th-ranked Johnson from Orange, Calif., will play in the singles at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time since becoming a full-time professional last summer. He won the ATP Challenger title at Nottingham last week to earn his wild card, which was announced Tuesday. Mahut, loser of the longest match in tennis history, had already been granted his invitation. The French player lost 70-68 in the fifth set to John Isner in a first-round Wimbledon match three years ago that stretched over three days. Also receiving wild cards for the tournament starting June 24 were British duo James Ward a

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — Defending champion Tamira Paszek was forced to retire with a left thigh injury during her first-round match against 2009 champion Caroline Wozniacki at Eastbourne Tuesday. Wozniacki was leading 6-2, 2-2 when Paszek was forced off. The Austrian, who was chasing her first win on the WTA tour since January, was broken at 3-2 and Wozniacki then broke again to take the opening set. Paszek broke to lead 2-1 in the second set but received treatment, lost her next service game and retired. A single break of serve late in each set gave Australia's Bernard Tomic a 6-3, 6-4 victory over British wild card James Ward.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tennis great Gene Mako, who won four major doubles titles and was ranked in the world top 10 during the 1930s, has died in Southern California. He was 97 years old. The International Tennis Hall of Fame said Mako died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The hospital confirmed his death. Mako and his friend Don Budge won two doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1937 and 1938 and two at the U.S. Championships in 1936 and 1938. As a singles player, Mako reached the final of the U.S. Championships in 1938, where he lost to Budge. Before turning pro, Mako won the NCAA singles and doubles championships in 1934 while at the University of Southern California. Mako served in the U.S.

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — Elena Vesnina beat seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday in the first round of the grass-court Aegon International. Earlier, 2011 champion Marion Bartoli of France beat Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-2 to set up a possible second-round meeting with second-seeded Li Na in the Wimbledon warm-up event. Down a break in the first set, Bartoli responded by breaking Pennetta twice and serving out the set. After an exchange of breaks to begin the second set, Bartoli swept five of the next six games. Sixth-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia defeated Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 7-6 (5), 6-1. Seventh-seeded Andreas Seppi won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 against French qualifier Guillaume R

ROSMALEN, Netherlands (AP) — John Isner was one of four seeded men's players to lose in the first round at the rain-interrupted Topshelf Open. The third-seeded American lost 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 to Evgeny Donskoy on Monday. No. 6 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, No. 7 Victor Hanescu of Romania and No. 8 Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain were also upset. Donskoy earned breaks against the big-serving Isner early in the second set and again in the final set to advance at the Wimbledon warm-up. Carlos Berlocq beat Baghdatis 6-2, 6-4. Hanescu lost 6-4, 6-3 to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Andrey Kuznetsov beat Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (4), 6-3. Defending champion David Ferrer, the French Open runner-up, opens play Tuesday against Xavier

LONDON (AP) — Top-seeded Andy Murray rallied to beat defending champion Marin Cilic 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Queen's Club tournament for the third time. The match was delayed for more than three hours by rain. It is the 27th career title for the Briton, who also claimed the trophy in 2009 and '11, and his second of the season after winning at Miami in March. Murray's victory came in his first tournament since he was forced to withdraw from the French Open with a back injury. "I worked very hard in the time that I had off to try and get myself in the best shape possible," Murray said. Murray yelled in agony in the match's eighth game after straining his groin in a stretch but kept playing without

HALLE, Germany (AP) — Roger Federer found the perfect place to end his title drought — a small town in western Germany that has a big tennis stadium and a street named Roger-Federer-Allee leading to it. Federer left Halle a winner again Sunday, ending a 10-month run of 11 tournaments without a title, an eternity by his standards. The 31-year-old Swiss great overcame a sluggish start to beat unseeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 at the Gerry Weber Open for his first title since Cincinnati in August. Returning to grass in his favorite warm-up for Wimbledon, the top-seeded Federer looked lethargic until the middle of the second set against a player he had never lost to in 14 previous matches. It was the first final on t

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova won her sixth career title Sunday, beating Croatian teenager Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the final of the Aegon Classic. The 16-year-old Vekic stayed close against Hantuchova, who is 14 years older. Down a break in the first set, Vekic broke back to force a tiebreaker. The 60th-ranked Hantuchova went ahead 5-2 in the tiebreaker and held off Vekic's comeback to clinch the first set. A late break in a tight second set allowed Hantuchova to capture the title.

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Croatian teenager Donna Vekic reached her second career WTA final when she beat 2009 champion Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 in the Aegon Classic on Saturday. In the final, she'll face Daniela Hantuchova in the final Sunday of the grass-court tournament. Hantuchova defeated Alison Riske of the United States 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Riske had to play twice on Saturday, finishing off a three-set quarterfinal win over 2011 champ Sabine Lisicki of Germany after it was stopped at 2-2 in the third on Friday because of darkness. Vekic, who turns 17 in two weeks, also beat Rybarikova en route to her first final in September in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. That was the last time she pas