NHL at odds with Russian league

The NHL refuses to entertain compensation offers from a newly formed Russian hockey league for the signing of forward Alex Radulov while the player was under contract with the Nashville Predators.

And until Radulov’s contract with the Predators is honored, the NHL won’t consider negotiating a player transfer agreement with the Continental Hockey League (KHL), NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an e-mail on Monday.

“The bottom line from our perspective is that the player has a contract which our rules obligate him to respect,” Daly said. “Our rules don’t recognize a player (or his new team) being able to ‘buy’ the way out of an existing contract. It’s not a scenario that our existing rules contemplate or allow.”

Radulov is at the center of a controversy between the NHL and the KHL after the player signed with KHL’s Ufa last month.

KHL president Alexander Medvedev said Radulov’s signing was legal because it occurred days before the leagues reached an agreement to not sign players under contract. Medvedev added that Ufa has since made an offer to compensate the Predators, but has yet to receive a response.

Daly said he isn’t aware if an offer was made, but insisted that such a deal wouldn’t be accepted.

Tennis

Nadal ranked No. 1

A day after winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Rafael Nadal officially unseated Roger Federer to become the world’s No. 1 tennis player when the ATP rankings came out.

Federer had been atop the rankings for 235 weeks, but Nadal has won six tournaments this year and heads into next week’s U.S. Open as the favorite to win his third straight Grand Slam.

He has won 38 of 39 matches on tour and beat Federer in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon this summer.

Ana Ivanovic is back on top in the women’s rankings. The 20-year old Serb, who held the No. 1 WTA ranking for nine weeks from June 9-Aug. 11, moved past compatriot Jelena Jankovic.

•Juan Martin del Potro, who has won four straight times on the ATP Tour, withdrew from the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven, Conn., citing exhaustion.

Basketball

Iguodala signs deal

Andre Iguodala, who helped the Philadelphia 76ers reach the playoffs for the first time in three years, was rewarded with the official announcement of a six-year contract worth a reported $80 million.

Iguodala averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals in 82 games last season.

•Former Iowa State basketball coach Glen Anderson, the third-winningest coach in school history, died in Hot Springs, Ark. He was 79.