TENNIS
February 11, 2008 at 5:51AM
U.S. begins Davis Cup defense with 4-1 victory The United States started the defense of its Davis Cup title with a 4-1 first-round victory over Austria. The teams split Sunday's reverse singles after the United States had already secured its quarterfinal spot by winning Saturday's doubles.
American team captain Patrick McEnroe let doubles pair Bob and Mike Bryan play the meaningless reverse singles. Mike Bryan withdrew because of an injured left hamstring in the second set against Stefan Koubek, giving Austria its only point. Bob Bryan posted a 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory over Werner Eschauer.
The U.S. plays host to France April 11-13 for a place in the semifinals. Also advancing were Russia, Germany and Sweden.
• Anna Chakvetadze overcame a bothersome shoulder to beat Agnes Szavay 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 and win the Open Gaz de France in Paris for her seventh title.
• Polish teen Agnieszka Radwanska won the second title of her career with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over U.S. veteran Jill Craybas in the Pattaya Women's Open final in Thailand.
GYMNASTICS
Hamm returns, wins Winter Cup Challenge Defending Olympic champion Paul Hamm breezed to a victory at the Winter Cup Challenge on Saturday night in Las Vegas and again showed what a power he could be in Beijing.
The Wisconsin native finished with a two-day score of 185.85. That was 7.25 better than runner-up Raj Bhavsar. Hamm's only error in the finals, the second phase of his first full meet since he won the all-around in Athens, was a bad landing on his vault.
After watching him perform in preliminaries Thursday, 2006 national champion Sasha Artemev called Hamm the man to beat at the Olympics and said his presence pushes the U.S. team into gold-medal contention.
BASEBALL
Youkilis and Red Sox agree on $3M, 1 year First baseman Kevin Youkilis and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing. He made $424,500 last season, when he hit .288 with 16 homers and 83 RBI.
• Mike Sweeney agreed to terms on a minor league contract with the Athletics, ending the five-time All-Star's association with the Royals. The designated hitter, 34, was drafted by Kansas City in 1991 and made his major league debut in 1995.
WINTER SPORTS
Lange wins second World Cup bobsled title Germany's Andre Lange won his second World Cup bobsled title when he guided his four-man sled to victory in the season's final World Cup event in Winterberg, Germany. Steven Holcomb and United States I took fourth in 1:50.81. The worlds begin Friday in Altenberg, Germany.
• A collision between two other skaters cleared the way for American Apolo Anton Ohno to win the 1,000 meters in the short-track speedskating World Cup. It was the only victory by an American during the World Cup stop at the Utah Olympic Oval. Ohno placed third in the 1,500 on Saturday.
AROUND THE HORN
Track and field: Yelena Soboleva broke her own indoor world record in the 1,500 meters at the Russian indoor championships in Moscow. Soboleva won in 3 minutes, 58.05 seconds. ... In Karlsruhe, Germany, Sweden's Susanna Kallur broke an 18-year-old world record in the women's 60-meter indoor hurdles by 0.01 seconds, clocking 7.68.
Soccer: Manchester City completed a Premier League sweep of rival Manchester United, beating the hosts 2-1 amid commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. Despite fears it would be disrupted, a minute's silence was observed inside the stadium.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Detroit receiver Jameson Williams is giving future opponents – including a certain team from the Twin Cities – cause for concern as the race for the division title and No. 1 seed comes down to the wire.
