Semis are set at WTA Championships

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Saturday's semifinals are now set at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, as top-seeded Belgian Justine Henin will meet fourth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Maria Sharapova will take on her seventh-seeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Friday's Sharapova-Ivanovic winner would not have to face the world No. 1 Henin here on Saturday, and it worked out for the 2004 Championships victor Sharapova, who dismantled her fellow 20-year-old Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 on the fourth and final day of round-robin play on the hardcourt at Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo.
Sharapova pasted Ivanovic in 1 hour, 10 minutes, as she recorded five service breaks, compared to zero for the overmatched Serb.
The Australian Open runner-up and former world No. 1 Sharapova was a perfect 3-0 in this week's four-player Red Group, while the French Open runner-up Ivanovic went 2-1. The group was rounded out by eighth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova (1-2) and second-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (0-3). Hantuchova took the place of Wimbledon champion Venus Williams (dizziness) in the exclusive eight-player field...Full Story

James leads Cavs into Utah

(Sports Network) - The defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers continue their road trip when they visit the Utah Jazz tonight at EnergySolutions Arena.
Cleveland is 1-1 on its season-long six-game road trip. On Tuesday, Daniel Gibson drained five three-pointers as Cleveland knocked off the Golden State Warriors, 108-104, at ORACLE Arena.
Gibson finished with 22 points and LeBron James scored a team-best 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out nine assists. Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Drew Gooden added 16 points and eight boards in the victory.
Guard Larry Hughes (bruised left knee) is expected to miss tonight's game. Hughes, who is averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 assists per game this season, did not play against Golden State...Full Story

Round-robin groups revealed for Tennis Masters Cup

Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - The two four-man groups for next week's season-ending Tennis Masters Cup were announced on Wednesday, as Swiss great Roger Federer will head up the Red Group, while powerful Spaniard Rafael Nadal spearheads the Gold Group. Federer is the defending champion.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer is joined in a very tough Red Group by No. 4 Russian Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 American Andy Roddick and No. 7 Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, while the second-seeded Nadal is joined in the Gold quartet by No. 3 Serbian Novak Djokovic, No. 6 Spaniard David Ferrer and No. 8 Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Spain will be the only country with more than one participant this year (Nadal and Ferrer).
Round-robin play will commence Sunday on the indoor hardcourt at Shanghai's state-of-the-art Qi Zhong Stadium, with two matches on the docket. The French Open champion Nadal will open up against Gasquet, while the nightcap will pit Djokovic versus Ferrer...Full Story

Wigan axe Hutchings after only 12 games

Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Wigan announced on Monday that the club has fired manager Chris Hutchings 12 games into the Premiership season following the club's 2-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday.
The firing comes just six months after Hutchings was appointed to the manager role, following the departure of Paul Jewell at the end of last season.
Assistant Frank Barlow will take control of the team on a caretaker basis.
Hutchings served as an assistant to Jewell for six years before taking over in May. His tenure started well with two wins in the team's first three games, but Wigan has since been bounced out of the League Cup by Championship side Hull City and lost its last six games in league play.
"This has been a very difficult decision for me and the board to make but I felt we had to act in the best interests of the club and its long-term future," chairman Dave Whelan said in a statement.
"Chris has worked very hard since becoming manager and I cannot fault either his effort or commitment to the cause. However, it is crucial for the development of Wigan that we maintain our Premier League status this season and following results and performances in recent matches, we feel it is critical to act now."

Gallas earns draw for Arsenal with later equalizer

London, England (Sports Network) - William Gallas scored in stoppage time to help Arsenal salvage a 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.
The Arsenal defender handed United an own goal right before halftime to put the Red Devils ahead 1-0 at the break, but Francesc Fabregas pulled the Gunners level shortly after the restart.
Cristiano Ronaldo looked to have put United ahead for good in the 82nd minute, which would have ended Arsenal's 24-match unbeaten run and put United back at the top. However, Gallas atoned for his earlier miscue as he volleyed home the equalizer in stoppage time to give both teams a point.
Arsenal enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening half, but only really tested United keeper Edwin Van der Sar on one occasion.
The visitors had the better of the play but failed to find the net until right before the half.
A number of shots went off target as United was the more dangerous side, but it took a little help from the Arsenal defense to put Sir Alex Ferguson's club ahead.
Ronaldo got down the right flank with the ball and drove a cross to Wayne Rooney at the near post. The United striker did not get much on his shot, but it deflected into the net off of the sliding Gallas for a 1-0 United lead...Full Story

Davenport reaches Bell Challenge final

Quebec City, QC (Sports Network) - American Lindsay Davenport continued her push to a second title this year, ousting second-seed Vera Zvonareva in three sets to reach the final of the $175,000 Bell Challenge.
Appearing in her third consecutive quarterfinal since returning to the WTA Tour in August after nearly a year out of action, Davenport, who won the Bali Open this year, dropped her first set of the tournament but still managed to beat the Russian Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3.
Davenport, who gave birth to her first child, Jagger Jonathan Leach, in June and returned to play in September, will square off against third-seeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko in the final.
Vakulenko overcame an injured right ankle to defeat American qualifier Julie Ditty, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. The 28-year-old Ditty made the first semifinal appearance of her WTA Tour career.

Nadal ends Baghdatis' run; Gasquet loses but reaches Masters Cup

Paris, France (Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in Saturday's opening semifinal match at the Paris Masters.
The second-seeded Nadal earned a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to reach the final, where he will play Argentina's David Nalbandian, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over 10th- seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the day's second semifinal.
Not only did Nadal eliminate Baghdatis, but he also ended the Cypriot's run toward a possible berth in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Baghdatis needed to win this tournament and not have Gasquet reach the final to qualify for the elite eight-man tournament that starts November 11 in Shanghai.
Instead, Gasquet completed the field before even taking the court Saturday.
Baghdatis' setback turned out to be good for Gasquet, as Nalbandian needed just 68 minutes to move into his second straight Masters final. He beat Roger Federer for the Madrid Masters title last month, also toppling Nadal in the quarterfinals on his way to that crown...Full Story

Felton leads Bobcats over Bucks

Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Raymond Felton scored 26 points and added 12 assists, and the Charlotte Bobcats won their first season opener in franchise history, 102-99, over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Gerald Wallace scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who had lost each of their previous three season openers, but held off the Bucks for a win in Sam Vincent's first game as Bobcats head coach. Jason Richardson, in his first game for Charlotte after being acquired in the offseason from Golden State, finished with 21 points. Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Bobcats, who are coming off a 33-49 campaign last season that represented the franchise-high in wins.
Michael Redd scored 21 points, and Mo Williams added 20 points for the Bucks, who have dropped two in a row to open the season. Andrew Bogut had 11 points and 17 rebounds, and Charlie Villanueva scored 14 points for Milwaukee. Highly touted prospect Yi JianLian started, and finished with two points and four rebounds in 15 minutes...Full Story

McLaren, Alonso announce split

Woking, England (Sports Network) - Formula One star Fernando Alonso and Team McLaren have mutually decided to part company, despite two years remaining on the driver's contract.
Alonso, who won the F1 championship in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, joined McLaren for the 2007 season and finished tied for second in this year's driver standings. He won four races and had 14 top-five finishes in 17 starts, but a third-place result in the final race of the year left him one point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.
"Since I was a boy I had always wanted to drive for McLaren, but sometimes in life things do not work out," said Alonso in a statement. "I continue to believe that McLaren is a great team. Yes, we have had our ups and downs during the season, which has made it extra challenging for all of us, and it is not a secret that I never really felt at home."
There were reports during the season that Alonso believed McLaren was giving preferential treatment to teammate Lewis Hamilton, who also tied for second in the driver standings.
"I know there have been suggestions of favoritism within the team and people say a lot of things in the heat of battle, but in the end I was always provided with an equal opportunity to win. Today's decision allows all of us to focus on 2008."
McLaren said a decision to end the relationship was not discussed until after the season.
"He is a great driver but for some reason the combination of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Fernando has not really worked out, and in the end we reached a stage where none of us could find a way to move forward," said McLaren team chairman Ron Dennis. "We all believe that our joint decision to part company is for the best, and we will now continue to focus on our 2008 World Championship challenge."
McLaren has not yet announced plans to find a replacement driver.

New Hampshire International Speedway sold

Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., agreed to purchase New Hampshire International Speedway from Bob and Gary Bahre for $340 million in cash, NASCAR announced Friday.
The deal is expected to be completed by early next year and then the track is expected to be renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
For now, the two NASCAR Nextel Cup dates at the track will remain. It hosted the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 in July and the Sylvania 300 this September, but nothing is guaranteed beyond next year as to whether one or both of those races will be moved.
NHIS is the host to the lone NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series events held in the six-state New England region.
"While we don't have any details about SMI's plans for NHIS, all sanctions for 2008 have been signed and finalized," NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said. "As a result, there will be no location changes to the 2008 schedule that was released last month. This is important to the fans, competitors, broadcast partners and sponsors who have already made plans for the 2008 races.
"Looking beyond 2008, NASCAR will continue to consider requests by any track operator, including SMI, to relocate race dates. Under NASCAR's "realignment" plan, we have worked with track owners to relocate race dates to meet the needs of our growing national fan base. Ultimately, any change must meet NASCAR's objectives and serve our fans."
Most experts expect one Nextel Cup race, likely the first race in the "Chase," to eventually shift to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
SMI has a strong roster of racetracks. The group also owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway, and the Texas Motor Speedway.

Davies takes lead at Mizuno Classic

Shima-Shi, Japan (Sports Network) - Laura Davies birdied five of her final nine holes on Friday -- including her last -- to shoot a seven-under 65 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Mizuno Classic.
Reilley Rankin and Chie Arimura shot rounds of six-under 66 to share second place behind Davies. Erina Hara was another shot further back at five-under 67 and Mie Nakata stood at four-under 68.
Jeong Jang, Brittany Lang, In-Kyung Kim and Joo Mi Kim were all at 69.
Featuring 78 players from the LPGA and the LPGA of Japan, this is the last of three consecutive tournaments in Asia for the LPGA Tour.
Few of the top players in the women's world rankings are on hand.
Notably missing from the field this week are world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa and world No. 3 Annika Sorenstam.
Sorenstam won five consecutive Mizuno Classics from 2001-05 to set an LPGA record, a streak that was snapped by Karrie Webb last year...Full Story

Verplank takes over top spot at Disney World

Lake Buena Vista, FL (Sports Network) - Scott Verplank fired his second straight six-under 66 Friday to move to the top of the leaderboard at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.
Verplank, whose win at Byron Nelson Championship snapped a six-year winless stretch, completed 36 holes at 12-under-par 132.
Tag Ridings, who needs to win this event to keep his tour card for next year, also fired a 66 to move into share of second at minus-11. He was joined there by Stephen Ames and Ryan Armour. There are eight players one shot back at 10- under-par 134.
"It's nice to be in second place or be near the lead at least and have a chance on the weekend," admitted Ridings. "But I'm not really thinking of anything besides just playing this tournament alone."
With players competing with amateur partners for the first two rounds this week, players are rotating over the Magnolia and Palm Courses at Walt Disney World Resort for the first two rounds. The Magnolia Course will host the final two rounds.
The big battle this week is for players to move into the top 125 on the money list to keep their tour cards for next year...Full Story

Davenport into semifinals at Bell Challenge

Quebec City, QC (Sports Network) - American Lindsay Davenport continued her push to a second title this year with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz in the quarterfinals at the $175,000 Bell Challenge.
Appearing in her third consecutive quarterfinal since returning to the Tour in August after nearly a year out of action, Davenport continued to sweep away opponents. The new mother, having given birth to first child Jagger Jonathan Leach in June, has yet to lose a set in any of her three matches this week.
Davenport, a three-time Gland Slam champion, returned to play in September, winning the Bali Open and reaching the semifinals in the China Open. Her next opponent will be second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over fellow countrywoman and eighth seed Olga Poutchkova, the runner-up last year.
Third-seeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko gained her third career semifinal berth with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over fifth seed Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Next up for Vakulenko will be qualifier Julie Ditty, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victor over fellow American Vania King. The 28-year-old Ditty was already making the first quarterfinal appearance of her WTA Tour career.

Nadal advances to Paris semifinals

Paris, France (Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal was among the quarterfinal winners on Friday in the Paris Masters.
The second-seeded Nadal continued his quest for the title at the $2.45 million tournament with an easy 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Nadal has yet to lose a set during his two matches in his first appearance at this hard court event and is seeking to win his seventh title this season.
"It was an important match for me to be in the semifinals after the US Open," said Nadal. "Especially after Montreal. I'm so happy to come back and play one tournament like this. The last two matches have been very good, very good matches for me."
The Spaniard is the highest remaining seed after world No. 1 Roger Federer was defeated by Argentine David Nalbandian in the third round on Thursday...Full Story

Bad weather no problem for Breeders' Cup at Monmouth Park

Oceanport, NJ (Sports Network) - The first ever Friday running of Breeders' Cup World Championship races was conducted under rainy and windy conditions at Monmouth Park. Three brand new $1 million events kicked off the 24th annual Breeders' Cup that will continue Saturday afternoon with the remaining eight races.
Over a sloppy track the six-furlong Filly & Mare Sprint got things underway at the historic New Jersey track. Maryfield, ridden by Elvis Trujillo, came from well off the pace to win the first of 11 Breeders' Cup races.
Trained by Doug O'Neill, Maryfield was four wide around the turn for home as morning-line favorite Dream Rush had the lead into the stretch. Dream Rush, with Eibar Coa in the saddle, was the leader up the backstretch and around the final turn...Full Story

Schnyder ousts Chakvetadze in Linz

Linz, Austria (Sports Network) - Sixth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder toppled top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze in Friday's quarterfinal action at the $600,000 Generali Ladies Linz women's tennis event.
The lefthanded Schnyder humbled the U.S. Open semifinalist Chakvetadze 6-1, 6-0 on the indoor hardcourt at Intersport Arena. Chakvetadze piled up five double faults and had her serve broken five times in a lopsided, lightning- fast 39-minute affair.
Schnyder, who reached the Linz final in 2005, will face Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in Saturday's semifinals. The third-seeded Bartoli, of France, held off Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko 6-1, 1-6, 6-4...Full Story

Grosjean moves on; Ljubicic loses in Lyon quarters

Lyon, France (Sports Network) - Veteran French crowd favorite Sebastien Grosjean was among the quarterfinal winners, while former champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia came up a loser Friday at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix.
In an all-French quarter, Grosjean outlasted Julien Benneteau 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in 2 hours, 34 minutes.
Meanwhile, the 2001 Lyon winner Ljubicic, seeded fifth this week, gave way to Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 on Day 5...Full Story

Federer reaches semis; Gonzalez falls in Basel

Basel, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Hometown hero Roger Federer was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, while last year's runner-up and former champion Fernando Gonzalez went by way of the upset at the $1.2 million Swiss Indoors tennis event.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer handled German Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2 at St. Jakobshalle. The Swiss Federer captured his 544th career singles victory, making him the active wins leader on the ATP. Former world No. 1 Carlos Moya is second to Federer, with 543 wins.
Federer topped the Chilean Gonzalez in last year's Basel finale and was the back-to-back runner-up in his hometown in 2000 and 2001.
The reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Federer was last week's Madrid Masters runner-up to Argentine star David Nalbandian...Full Story

Cabrera wins playoff for Grand Slam title

Tucker's Town, Bermuda (Sports Network) - Reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera birdied the third playoff hole Wednesday to defeat British Open winner Padraig Harrington and win the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
Cabrera managed a two-under 68 on Wednesday, while Harrington shot a one-under 69. The pair finished the two rounds at four-under-par 136 and it took some drama to get them into the playoff.
Cabrera pushed it to extra holes thanks to an impressive eagle at the par-five 18th hole in regulation. Harrington birdied the hole to force the playoff and the two headed back to 18 at Mid Ocean Club.
The duo parred the first two extra holes, 18 and the par-three 17th. They returned to the par-five closing hole in this event designed for the four major champions of 2007.
Harrington hit a poor tee shot at the third playoff hole. Cabrera reached the green in two and two-putted for the birdie and the victory in his first trip to the event...Full Story

England in major trouble after second-half collapse

Moscow, Russia (Sports Network) - England's hopes of qualifying for EURO 2008 took a major hit on Wednesday as Roman Pavluchenko scored two goals in four minutes to help Russia earn a vital 2-1 comeback win over England at Luzhniki Stadium.
A win would have secured qualification for Steve McClaren's men, who looked to be a good bet when Wayne Rooney found the net for the Three Lions in the 29th minute.
However, Pavluchenko came on in the 58th minute as a substitute and proceeded to score twice, ending England's five-game winning streak in Group E. With Croatia all but assured of one spot from the group, Russia is poised to claim the second place with wins against Israel and lowly Andorra in its final two matches. England's only hope now is to beat Croatia and have Russia draw one of its final two games.
Russia put pressure on the English defense from the start but only had minimal chances in the opening 20 minutes. Keeper Paul Robinson was called upon to make a nice stop on Russia's Konstatin Zurianov, but the back line held up well for the most part in the first half...Full Story