In brief: Davydenko wins ATP World Finals
Tennis: Nikolay Davydenko won the first big tournament of his career Sunday, running down just about every ball and using a consistent serve to beat U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 to win the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Davydenko was coming off his semifinal victory over top-ranked Roger Federer and dominated his service games against Del Potro, losing only five points on serve in the first set and eight in the second.
Del Potro had three chances to break Davydenko, but the Russian saved them all to complete a sweep of all three of this year’s Grand Slam champions at the season-ending tournament.
Davydenko lost to Novak Djokovic in his opening Group B match, but then beat Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal and French Open finalist Robin Soderling to advance. In the semifinals, he finally got the better of Federer, who had beaten Davydenko in their previous 12 meetings.
Federer won both the French Open and Wimbledon this year and clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for the fifth time in his career.
•Br yan brothers win doubles final: Bob and Mike Bryan won the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals to reclaim the year-end No. 1 doubles ranking, beating Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6 (3), 6-3 in London.
It is the third time the American brothers have won the tournament and the fifth time they will end the year as the top-ranked doubles team.
The twins got the only break of the final to go up 5-3 in the second set and Bob Bryan then served out the match at love at London’s O2 Arena. He fell to his knees in celebration before getting up to catch his brother as Mike jumped into his arms.
Mirnyi and Ram beat the twins in the round-robin phase of the tournament, but couldn’t repeat the feat in the final.
Garnett carries Celtics past Heat
Basketball: Kevin Garnett scored 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting, Ray Allen delivered the big blow with a 3-pointer with 1:38 left and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Miami Heat 92-85 on the road.
Dwyane Wade scored 27 points for Miami, which has lost six of nine.
•Pistons ride Stuckey, Wallace past Hawks: Ben Wallace had 18 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards, to help the undermanned Detroit Pistons end a seven-game losing streak with a 94-88 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Washington) had 23 points and eight assists for Detroit, which was again without starters Richard Hamilton (ankle), Tayshaun Prince (back) and Ben Gordon (ankle).
•Timberwolves end 15-game skid: Ryan Gomes scored 27 points, the most by a Timberwolves player this season, and Minnesota snapped a 15-game losing streak by beating the Denver Nuggets 106-100 on the road.
Corey Brewer and Jonny Flynn each scored 16 points in helping Minnesota rally from 17 points down in the first half and register its first win since a season-opening victory against New Jersey.
•Stoudemire, Chandler fined for tweets: The NBA fined Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire and Charlotte Bobcats forward Tyson Chandler $7,500 each for posting to their Twitter accounts during games in violation of league rules.
The league also fined Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace $30,000 for publicly criticizing officials following Boston’s 116-103 victory over Toronto on Friday night.
•NBA pressured to stop Adidas jersey plan: A U.S. senator from New York doesn’t want NBA players taking to the court wearing jerseys made in Asia.
Sen. Charles Schumer held a news conference outside the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York, where he urged the league to intervene and stop Adidas from moving production of the NBA’s official uniforms to Thailand, or pull out of its contract with the sports apparel giant.
Schumer said about 100 jobs are at stake at American Classic Outfitters’ factory in upstate New York.
•Portland’s ride ends in championship: Da’Sean Butler tied his season high of 26 points to lead No. 8 West Virginia to the 76 Classic championship with a 84-65 victory over Portland in Anaheim, Calif.
Butler, who made 10 of 16 shots and grabbed six rebounds, was the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Nik Raivio scored 15 points for the Pilots (5-1).
•Free throws lift Clemson over Butler: Demontez Stitt made two free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining to give No. 19 Clemson a 70-69 victory over No. 12 Butler (4-2) in the 76 Classic.
Trevor Booker also blocked a shot and deflected an inbounds pass in the final second for the Tigers (6-1). Booker finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Andre Young added 12 points.
•Texas A&M notches another win: Derrick Roland scored 19 points to lead Texas A&M (5-1) to a 66-65 victory over No. 22 Minnesota (3-2) in the 76 Classic.
Virginia fires football coach Al Groh
Football: Virginia fired Al Groh after nine seasons at his alma mater, ending a tenure marked by his inability to beat rival Virginia Tech.
Groh’s dismissal came less than 24 hours after the Cavaliers (3-9, 2-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost 42-13 at home to the No. 11 Hokies, finishing their worst season since they were 2-9 in 1982. It also was their eighth loss to the Hokies in Groh’s nine tries.
•Assistant coach dies in car crash: Eastern Illinois assistant football coach Jeff Hoover was killed in a car crash as he returned home from a playoff game against Southern Illinois. He was 41. Hoover and his family were riding with strength coach Eric Cash and his family late Saturday when their Chevrolet Suburban swerved to miss a deer and rolled over just south of Effingham, Ill., athletic department spokesman Rich Moser said.
Massa beats Schumacher
Miscellany: Formula One driver Felipe Massa beat Michael Schumacher in a charity karting race in Florianopolis, Brazil, in his return to competition four months after a life-threatening accident.
The Brazilian edged his former Ferrari teammate in the final race of the “International Challenge of the Stars.”
•Kameda defeats Naito for flyweight title: Challenger Koki Kameda of Japan defeated compatriot Daisuke Naito by unanimous decision to win the WBC flyweight title in Saitama, Japan.
The 23-year-old Kameda built up a solid lead through the first nine rounds at Saitama Super Arena and held on to win despite a desperate attempt by Naito to erase the deficit.