Familiar foes advance to ATP finals
Tennis: As usual, Roger Federer is looking to add to one of his many records. And as many expected, Novak Djokovic will be trying to stop him.
The top two players in the world advanced to the championship match at the ATP finals on Sunday.
Federer, a six-time champion at the season-ending event, advanced by beating U.S. Open champion Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 6-2. The top-ranked Djokovic defeated Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The ATP finals is the last tournament of the season, and Federer will face Djokovic in the final match today at the O2 Arena in London.
Grizzlies beat Heat for fifth straight win
NBA: Reserve Wayne Ellington had career bests with seven 3-pointers and 25 points, leading the Grizzlies over the Miami Heat 104-86 in Memphis, Tenn., for their fifth straight win.
The Grizzlies snapped Miami’s four-game winning streak while extending their own franchise-record home winning streak to 14 dating to last season.
• Lakers reach 2-0 under Bickerstaff: Dwight Howard had 23 points and 18 rebounds, Kobe Bryant scored 20 and the in-transition Los Angeles Lakers continued warming up for a possible return by Phil Jackson with a 103-90 win over the visiting Sacramento Kings.
Lame-duck interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff called the shots for the second straight following the firing of Mike Brown on Friday with the team off to a 1-4 start – their worst in 19 years. They throttled Golden State 101-77 at the Staples Center several hours after the change.
Jimmer Fredette scored a team-high 18 points for the Kings.
• Clippers surge past Hawks: Blake Griffin scored 16 points, Chris Paul had 15 points and eight assists and the Clippers beat the Atlanta Hawks 89-76 in Los Angeles.
Jamal Crawford, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2010 while playing for Atlanta, had 11 points after coming in with a team-high 21.8 average – tops among the league’s reserves. • Nets hold off Magic: Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Kris Humphries added 14 points and 21 rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Orlando Magic 82-74 in New York to complete a home-and-home sweep.
Glen Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped four in a row.
Martin gets win in Gamecocks debut
Men’s basketball: Brenton Williams scored 12 of his 14 points in overtime as South Carolina overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half to defeat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82-75 at Columbia, S.C., in Frank Martin’s debut as Gamecocks coach.
The Gamecocks (1-0) trailed 40-23 early in the second half. But South Carolina ended the period on a 26-12 run and tied things on two foul shots by freshman Mindaugas Kacinas to force the extra period.
That’s when Williams took over. He hit consecutive layups for a 74-68 lead then kept the Gamecocks out front going 8 for 8 from the foul line.
• Browns wins in debut with SMU: Nick Russell scored 19 points and Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown won his SMU coaching debut as the Mustangs defeated Loyola Marymount 73-58 in Dallas.
Lady Vols get first win under Warlick
Women’s basketball: Bashaara Graves scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and fellow Tennessee forward Cierra Burdick added 16 points as the No. 20 Lady Volunteers (1-1) beat No. 22 Georgia Tech 71-54 to spoil the Yellow Jackets’ debut at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta and hand new coach Holly Warlick her first win.
Junior Tyaunna Marshall scored 18 and Dawnn Maye added 12 for Georgia Tech (0-1) in its new on-campus arena.
• Georgetown upsets Blue Hens: Sugar Rodgers scored 35 points and recorded five steals as Georgetown (2-0) stunned No. 11 Delaware 62-56 in Dover, Del.
Delaware (1-1) was without last year’s leading scorer Elena Delle Donne. Delle Donne, who also missed Delaware’s season opener, is dealing with symptoms of Lyme Disease. She is listed as day-to-day.
• Cardinal cruise past Broncos: Chiney Ogwumike scored 22 points, Joslyn Tinkle added 19 and No. 4 Stanford (2-0) beat host Santa Clara 97-57.
Stanford meets defending national champion Baylor at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu on Friday. The Bears beat the Cardinal in last year’s national semifinal.
Lindsay Leo scored 16 points to lead the Broncos (1-1), while Meagan Fulps finished with 14 and Ruta Zurauskyte had 11.
New round of talks leads nowhere
NHL: As quickly as NHL labor negotiations got going again, they came to a screeching halt. Now there is no telling when the league and the players will return to the bargaining table.
After a one-day break following a series of formal discussions this week, the sides got back to business in New York. Less than 90 minutes after talks solely about player-contract issues started, they were over.
The players contend the NHL has dug in on its position and is not willing to negotiate.
“The owners made it clear there is no give with respect to their proposals unless the players are willing to take them – this is my phrase, not theirs – down to the comma, then there is nothing to do, that we’re past the point of give and take,” players’ association executive director Donald Fehr said.
No new plans to talk were made, but today wasn’t ruled out. The sides will be in touch, and if they do decide to meet then, those talks will take place in Toronto, where leaders from the NHL and the players’ association will be to attend Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
Myhrer tops Hirscher for win in Finland
Miscellany: Andre Myhrer of Sweden won the first men’s World Cup slalom of the season, holding off defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria in a close second run in Levi, Finland.
Myhrer led after the first run and did just enough to keep his lead, winning in 1 minute, 49.55 seconds to beat Hirscher by 0.06 seconds. Jens Byggmark of Sweden was 0.61 seconds behind in third.
American Ted Ligety tied for 13th place. He is now third in the overall standings. Hirscher leads with 140 points.
• Kenyans sweep Athens Marathon: Raymond Kimutai Bett led a Kenyan sweep of the top six places at the Athens (Greece) Classic Marathon. Consalater Chemtai Yadaa of Kenya won the women’s race
Bett finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 35 seconds. He was followed by Paul Kibet Kosgei in 2:12:20 and Alex Sumko Kirui in 2:12:26.
Chemtai Yadaa finished in 2:40, beating Ukraine’s Svitlana Stanko by 7 seconds.