In brief

U.S. loses opening Fed Cup matches

By wire services
Published July 10, 2005

The United States dropped its opening two matches to defending champion Russia, with Wimbledon winner Venus Williams and Mashona Washington losing in the Fed Cup semifinals in Moscow.

Anastasia Myskina rallied past Williams 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, and Elena Dementieva followed with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Washington in the 29-year-old American's Fed Cup debut.

"I felt that Venus was not going to be on top of her game today," Myskina said. "It's really tough to play after winning a Grand Slam because, emotionally, it's really hard to play two weeks in a row and play your best tennis. I kind of knew that I could take the advantage in the match, and I did."

The best-of-five competition concludes today with reverse singles and a doubles match.

In the other semifinal, Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce, who lives in Sarasota, cruised to straight-set victories to give France a 2-0 lead over Spain in Aix-en-Provence, France.

The two semifinal winners will play for the title Sept. 17-18.

SWEDISH OPEN: Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat fellow-Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Swedish Open final in Bastad, Sweden. Today, Nadal will face the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych.

SWISS OPEN: Stanislas Wawrinka beat Romanian qualifier Razvan Sabau 7-6 (7), 6-4 to reach his first ATP final in Gstaad, Switzerland. The 20-year-old Swiss will face former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina.

HALL OF FAME: Second-seeded Vince Spadea advanced to the finals to face defending champion Greg Rusedski of England.

The East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune reported the new collective bargaining agreement will scrub the 2006 NHL All-Star Weekend, scheduled for Phoenix, so the players can participate in the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

The Coyotes have already been told that the next opportunity for Arizona to host an All-Star Game will be 2010.

The paper also reported that Wayne Gretzky will be officially introduced as coach of the Coyotes after the collective bargaining agreement is ratified by the league's board of governors and the NHL Players' Association.

Former Coyotes assistant and interim coach Rick Bowness and ex-Coyote player and former Colorado assistant Rick Tocchet are expected be Gretzky's assistants.

A boxer who fights under the nickname "The Harlem Hammer" will stand trial on charges that he used a hammer to kill a sports writer and then torched his Hollywood apartment.

Judge Kevin Brown ruled Friday there was enough evidence to try James Butler Jr. on charges of murder and arson in the 2004 death of Sam Kellerman, 29, younger brother of boxing analyst Max Kellerman.

Nike is using photos of Kobe Bryant for the first time since his arrest two years ago for an alleged assault on a female employee at a Colorado resort.

"Nike agrees with most NBA observers that Kobe ranks among the very best players in the NBA, and his training and preparation are key elements of his game," said Nike spokesman Rodney Knox.

The ads appear in Sports Illustrated. His name appeared in an ad earlier this year.

Prosecutors dismissed a rape charge against Bryant last September after his alleged victim refused to go ahead with the case.

A civil suit filed by the alleged victim against Bryant was settled out of court. Its details were not released.

BUCKS: Free agent Bobby Simmons signed with Milwaukee.

TIMBERWOLVES: Saint Joseph's center Dwayne Jones is skipping his senior season and was close to signing with Minnesota.

The IOC has two suggestions for baseball if it wants to return to the Olympics after the 2012 Games: Put in place tougher doping rules, and put major leaguers on the field.

"The message is clear," International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. "The IOC wants clean sport, the best athletes and universality."

Baseball was singled out because major leaguers don't compete in the Olympics and its drug-testing program falls way short of international standards.

BMX: Australia's Ryan Guettler won his second straight BMX Park final in the Dew Action Sports Tour's Right Guard Open in Denver.

HORSE RACING: Lava Man took the lead on the far turn and went on to a record-setting 83/4-length victory in the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup. Surf Cat won the $400,000 Swaps Breeders' Cup Stakes by five lengths, defeating 13-10 favorite Don't Get Mad, who was fifth in the six-horse field.

ULTRAMARATHON: Karl Meltzer became the first three-time men's champion of the Hardrock 100 in Silverton, Colo., finishing 93 minutes ahead of defending champion Paul Sweeney. Meltzer finished in 28 hours, 29 minutes.

WNBA: Sheryl Swoopes scored 15 points to lead the West to a 122-99 shootout win over the East in the WNBA All-Star Game.

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 23:35:17]