Bryan brothers win; U.S. close to victory

The U.S. Davis Cup team is one win from leaving the dreaded red clay of Europe in triumph, and returning to the familiar hard courts of home.

Bob and Mike Bryan beat Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday in doubles, giving the United States a 2-1 lead over the Czech Republic in the first round of the Davis Cup at Ostrava, Czech Republic. The Americans need one victory in today’s two reverse singles matches to reach the quarterfinals.

Andy Roddick, ranked No. 4, will play No. 12 Tomas Berdych in today’s first singles. If Roddick loses, it will come down to a match between No. 6 James Blake and Ivo Minar, who is ranked 154 places lower than the American.

•Lucie Safarova upset top-seeded Justine Henin 7-6 (5), 6-4 and will face Nadia Petrova in the final of the Open Gaz de France in Paris.

No. 4 Petrova rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to beat second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7). Mauresmo appeared to be in control with the 4-1 lead in the final set, but Petrova then won three straight games and forced a tiebreaker. Each player saved a match point in the tiebreaker before Petrova won with a passing shot on a service return.

•Serena Williams has the flu and Venus Williams has a sore wrist, forcing the sisters to pull out of upcoming tournaments.

Serena Williams withdrew from the Bangalore Open in India in what would have been her first tournament since her surprising victory at the Australian Open. Venus Williams will not play at next week’s Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium, because of a lingering injury to her left wrist, organizers of the event said. She plans to return for the Feb. 19-25 tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

College football

Ducks hire coach

Chip Kelly, an assistant at Division I-AA New Hampshire for 14 years, has been named the new offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Kelly replaces Gary Crowton, who was Oregon’s offensive coordinator for two seasons and installed the Ducks’ spread-option offense. Crowton left for the offensive coordinator’s job at Louisiana State.

Most recently Kelly served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Wildcats, who averaged 35.3 points per game and 401 yards of offense this past season.

Miscellany

U.S. wins bobsled

Steven Holcomb of the United States and Ivo Rueegg of Switzerland tied for first place in a two-man bobsled World Cup race in Cesana, Italy.

Holcomb and teammate Curtis Tomasevicz finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 53.43 seconds, matching the time of Rueegg and brakeman Cedric Grand. Austria’s Wolfgang Stampfer and Gerhard Koehler were third, 0.14 behind the leaders.

•Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva broke her indoor mark in the women’s pole vault at Donetsk, Ukraine, clearing 16 feet, 2 inches for her 20th world record.

The Olympic and world champion bettered her previous record of 16-1 1/4, set at this meet last year. She cleared the height on her third attempt at the Pole Vault Stars event.

•Notional won the $300,000 Risen Star Stakes for 3-year-old horses, beating Imawildandcrazyguy by 2 1/4 lengths at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.