Australian Open

TennisDavenport warms up for Australian Open by beating HingisAmerican Lindsay Davenport picked up some momentum yesterday heading into the Australian Open winning a tune-up event.Davenport defeated Martina Hingis, 6-4, 6-3, to win the Sydney Adidas International.Hingis had won the only two matches between the world's best women since Davenport claimed the top spot last October. But Davenport repeated her straight-sets win in the U.S. Open final in September and leads 4-3 in their seven final meetings in the past 14 months.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov is a quiet man. He has a sweet smile and blond hair that he wears like the Beatles wore theirs in the 1960s. On court, he is a tenacious player who develops his points on the baseline before working his way to the net for a stunning finish.He stands shoulder to shoulder with No. 1 Pete Sampras, No. 2 Andre Agassi and No. 4 Patrick Rafter going into the U.S. Open, the Grand Slam tennis tournament that begins today in New York.But when it comes to getting noticed, the world's No. 3 player is not usually one for the spotlight.

Beyond the prestige of winning one of the four major tennis crowns of the year, Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi and Lindsay Davenport or Martina Hingis may lock down the No. 1 player ranking in the world in next week's U.S. Open.But what does that mean? That's what John McEnroe, who is doing analysis for both CBS and USA, wants to know."We've gone through 10 years of a disgrace of a ranking system that gets us a No. 1 that doesn't always have meaning," said McEnroe yesterday on a pre-Open conference call.

SOUTHPORT, England -- Lee Westwood is not to be confused with Tiger Woods, not in the way he looks, in the way he handles himself around his fans and certainly not by his bank account.While Woods carries 160 pounds of grit and muscle on his lean 6-foot-1 frame, Westwood, recently down to 190, is cut more from the same lumpy cloth as fellow countryman Colin Montgomerie.And if Woods increasingly ducks behind a phalanx of security guards when he leaves the 18th green, Westwood is quick to wander freely among the eager fans.

BaseballAstros: Agreed to terms with former Orioles P Bob Milacki on minor-league contract.Blue Jays: Agreed to terms with P Tomas Davey, P Gary Glover, P Joe Young, P Steve Sinclair, IF Ryan Jones, IF Mike Peeples, P Kevin Witt, OF Anthony Sanders and OF Shannon Stewart on one-year contracts.Mets: Agreed to terms with OF Rick Parker on minor-league contract.Twins: Named Ricardo Ingram hitting and outfield coach.BasketballHeat: Signed G Gerald Madkins to 10-day contract.Hornets: Signed C Michael McDonald to 10-day contract.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- One player, the baldish and flighty one, has just returned from a self-styled trip to oblivion that taught him to treat his tennis talent like a brand new car and demonstrate some pride of ownership. The other player, the gritty workaholic whose tennis talent has suddenly gone bankrupt, seems headed toward oblivion.Andre Agassi, ranked 87th in the world but light-years away from the player he was when he won the Australian Open on his maiden voyage here in 1995, pulled off what he termed "a significant upset" last night.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Petr Korda faced a physical challenge at the Australian Open yesterday. Strangely, the test did not come during his championship final against Marcelo Rios of Chile.That bit of center-court business was tidied up quickly, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, giving Korda his first Grand Slam title in one of the most one-sided Grand Slam finals in recent years.Clearly unravaged by the physical demands of the 85-minute match, Korda then began his series of celebratory gymnastic maneuvers, which he initiated at the U.S. Open last year.

PARIS -- At first, Venus Williams did not want to know the identity of her first-round opponent at the French Open after yesterday's draw."No, I don't want to know who I'm playing," Williams said.Her main concern was the placement of herself and her younger sister, Serena. For once, the sisters were placed in opposite halves of the draw, a relief after playing each other early at the Australian Open and Italian Open.The only way they could meet at the French Open is in the final.For the record, Venus Williams, seeded eighth, will open against Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Although a name does not a champion make, the die was cast on this champion's destiny when her parents named their only daughter after Martina Navratilova, the greatest player to emerge from their native Czechoslovakia.Yesterday, on a sun-drenched center court a continent away from her European roots, 16-year-old Martina Hingis emphatically claimed that destiny. And then some.On a hot day in Melbourne, Hingis became the youngest Grand Slam champion in more than a century by shellacking another former prodigy, 22-year-old Mary Pierce, 6-2, 6-2, in the women's final of the Australian Open.

NEW YORK -- Lindsay Davenport is never going to be a pinup like Martina Hingis or Anna Kournikova. But unlike Kournikova, Davenport is still in the U.S. Open, and because Davenport is one of just two players to beat Hingis this season, she is a popular choice to win her first Grand Slam tournament.But history says the odds of her doing it are not great.Davenport, the top American-born seed at No. 6, is 21. Only one great player in the past 30 years won her first Grand Slam after her teen-age years.

PARIS -- Normally, Serena Williams exhibits all the nervousness of a shark in a goldfish pond, so her confession of jitters here illuminates a French Open task she labels "uphill." It's no wonder she hopped up and down all final-like on the Court Suzanne Lenglen after her 2 1/2-hour, first-round squeaker in the wacky wind of Tuesday afternoon, considering her 2009 clay-court preparation amounted to three tournaments, two countries, zero wins, three losses and one retirement. As she moves toward her remarkable 38th second round in 38 grand-slam tournaments, this clunky preparation also rates less persuasive than it would be for all other players, for here is a 27-year-old who has the phoenix routine down well enough that she once won an Australian Open from 81st in the rankings.

Report: Urine samples link Bonds to steroids baseball Federal prosecutors preparing for Barry Bonds' perjury trial are said to have evidence that links Bonds to the use of performance-enhancing drugs other than the "cream" and the "clear." A person who has reviewed the evidence told The New York Times that the authorities detected anabolic steroids in urine samples linked to Bonds that they gathered in connection with their investigation. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity.

1 Has to be better: Mike Patrick and Len Elmore are calling tonight's Boston College at Maryland game (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), having used up most of their notes in doing Saturday's Terps-Duke mega-blowout. 2 Boiling up: No one is talking about the Big Ten as college basketball's best conference, but Purdue (No. 16, facing Wisconsin, 9 p.m., ESPN) is one of the conference's three ranked teams. 3 Oh, say,: you can't see: With the Capitals in Boston (7 p.m., Versus), they'd better be aware that's close to where a prep goalie has invented open-net-camouflaged goalie pads.

Zvonareva reaches Australian semifinals tennis Vera Zvonareva ran off 11 straight games in a 6-3, 6-0 win over Marion Bartoli at the Australian Open today to reach the semifinals for the first time in 25 majors. The 24-year-old Russian's best performance in six previous trips to Melbourne was the fourth round - she had gone out in the first round at the Australian Open three times, including last year. And she made the quarterfinals at the 2003 French Open. Seventh-seeded Zvonareva, who hasn't dropped a set in five matches, rallied from an opening service break to dominate 2007 Wimbledon finalist Bartoli in the remainder of their quarterfinal.

Reports: Torre takes swings at Yanks in book baseball Joe Torre takes some harsh swings at Alex Rodriguez, Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees in a book due out early next month, according to New York newspaper reports. The Yankee Years reveals that Rodriguez was called "A-Fraud" by his teammates and the star slugger developed an obsession with shortstop Derek Jeter, the New York Post and the Daily News reported. Torre, who managed the Yankees from 1996 through 2007 before taking over the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, also says he was betrayed by Cashman, New York's longtime general manager, the Daily News reported on its Web site.

Top seed Jankovic loses in Australian Open tennis Jelena Jankovic went out in the fourth round of the Australian Open today, and No. 3 Dinara Safina was twice a point away from following the top-ranked player to the exit. In consecutive matches at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Frenchwomen took it to the top seeds. Jankovic was ousted by No. 16 Marion Bartoli. Safina survived, fending off double-match point against No. 15 Alize Cornet. "I am so lucky that I'm in the quarterfinals. She was one point away," said Safina, who made eight double faults and 52 unforced errors to 29 by Cornet.

Chiefs fire Edwards as coach; Shanahan in? nfl Herm Edwards, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs during the worst two-year span in team history, was fired yesterday. Edwards goes out with a three-year regular-season record of 15-33 and with one year remaining on a four-year, $12 million contract. As head coach of the New York Jets from 2001 to 2005, he had a regular-season mark of 39-41 and was 2-3 in the playoffs. ESPN.com reported that former longtime Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, fired by that team after this past season, was being sought by the Chiefs as Edwards' replacement.

1 It's a Blast,: Blast, Blast: The first-place Blast hosts second-place Monterrey at 7:35 p.m. at 1st Mariner Arena. The league is the NISL, by the way. 2 Off the bench: The Pistons have just turned Rip Hamilton into a sixth man. See how it's working (Mavericks at Pistons, 7 p.m., ESPN). 3 Our Pammy: Regardless of who is playing at the Australian Open (7 p.m., 11:30 p.m., ESPN2), Baltimore's own Pam Shriver (left) will be analyzing. 4 Gael warning: No. 5 Mount St. Joseph hosts No. 3 Calvert Hall at 7 p.m. in a matchup of boys basketball powers.

1 Top dogs: Actually, top Deacs. Wake Forest plays its first game since ascending to No. 1 in the poll, against Virginia Tech (7 p.m., ESPN2). 2 Stop us if you've: heard this before: This is sounding like a broken record (a stuck CD?). Another matchup of ranked Big East opponents: No. 3 Connecticut and No. 20 Villanova (7 p.m., ESPN). 3 Thanks for: the memories: Maybe it will help the auto industry if you watch the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (3 p.m., Golf Channel). 4 Nice outfit, Serena: Rock yourself to sleep with the Australian Open (11 p.m., ESPN2)

Australian Open 7 p.m., 3:30 a.m. [ESPN2] Certainly, you will be watching the Ravens when tennis' first major of the year begins, but how about later? Still thrilled by the Ravens' victory, still so wired you can't sleep, make yourself a snack - perhaps a sandwich without french fries and cole slaw on it - and sit down in front of your TV at 3:30 in the morning to see them whack the fuzz off the ball Down Under.