In brief

Roddick falls in Madrid

By wire services
Published October 20, 2005

MADRID, Spain - Andy Roddick blew a match point and lost 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-3) to Ivo Karlovic on Wednesday in the second round of the Madrid Masters in a contest between big servers.

Roddick, seeded second, was playing his first tour match since losing in the first round of the U.S. Open.

"For two sets, I don't think I could have played better," Roddick said. "It was the highest quality match we've played."

He had an easy first set and held match point at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker against the 6-foot-10 Croat, the ATP Tour's tallest player. Karlovic won the tiebreak 9-7 on his second set point when Roddick's return went wide.

Both players had chances to break in the deciding set, but they served to another tiebreaker before Karlovic took a 3-1 lead.

"You're going to have two or three points per tiebreaker that's either going to go your way or it's not," Roddick said. "It didn't go my way tonight. In the second tiebreaker, I don't think I played a bad point."

Earlier, Rafael Nadal beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second round, the top-seeded Spaniard's first match before a home crowd since his French Open victory.

ZURICH OPEN: Patty Schnyder advanced to the quarterfinals in Zurich, Switzerland, with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Magdalena Maleeva, who plans to retire after the tournament. Third-seeded Mary Pierce withdrew, citing a right thigh strain after winning her second title of the year last week.

Pittsburgh Penguins top draft pick Sidney Crosby and fellow rookies Jeff Carter, Michael Richards, Dion Phaneuf and Cam Ward are among the 81 potential players for Canada's men's hockey team at the Turin Olympics in February.

The list, released by Hockey Canada on Tuesday, includes nine goaltenders, 23 defensemen and 49 forwards.

TURIN GAMES: Members of the Italian Senate opposed relaxing the country's tough antidoping laws during the Games, an idea proposed by the government supervisor of the Winter Olympics.

Athletes can face criminal sanctions for doping violations under Italian law, raising the possibility of police raids in the Olympic village. Under International Olympic Committee rules, athletes face disqualification for any doping offense but no legal penalties.

SKELETON: World Cup skeleton champion Noelle Pikus-Pace broke her left leg when she was hit by an American four-man bobsled during a competition in Calgary.

Dwayne De Rosario of San Jose, Jaime Moreno of D.C. United and Taylor Twellman of New England are the finalists for Major League Soccer's MVP award.

Finalists in other categories:

Goalkeeper: Joe Cannon, Colorado; Pat Onstad, San Jose; Matt Reis, New England.

Defender: Danny Califf, San Jose; Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City; Tyrone Marshall, Los Angeles.

Coach: Dominic Kinnear, San Jose; Steve Nicol, New England; Peter Nowak, D.C. United.

Rookie: Michael Parkhurst, New England; Chris Rolfe, Chicago; Scott Sealy, Kansas City.

Comeback player: Ronald Cerritos, San Jose; Herculez Gomez, Los Angeles; Chris Klein, Kansas City.

Fair play: Brian Carroll, D.C. United; Ronald Cerritos, San Jose; Justin Mapp, Chicago.

CHALLENGE CUP: Alberto Medina scored two goals, leading Chivas of Guadalajara to a 3-2 win over Pachuca in Dallas.

BOXING: After a potential bout with St. Petersburg's Winky Wright and other rumored fights fell through, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is happy to have found a willing opponent. Mayweather (34-0), the WBC super-lightweight champion, will face Sharmba Mitchell on Nov. 19 in a 12-round welterweight bout in Portland, Ore. Mayweather took the WBC 140-pound title from Arturo Gatti in June. The 28-year-old previously won the WBC super featherweight and lightweight belts.

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:20:19]