TENNIS Spain leads Davis Cup final 2-1 Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco sent a chill through Argentine tennis Saturday, winning their doubles match to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. Lopez and Verdasco defeated David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5 ), 6-3, boosting Spain’s hopes of winning the best-of-5 championship on the road despite the absence of an ailing Rafael Nadal. Spain could be in good position for its third Davis Cup crown if Argentina’s leading player, Juan Martin del Potro, cannot play reverse singles today because of injury. Today’s schedule has del Potro meeting David Ferrer, then Nalbandian playing Lopez at Islas Malvinas Stadium. On Friday, Nalbandian defeated Ferrer in straight sets and del Potro fell to Lopez in four. Spain has never won the Davis Cup away from home. Argentina, unbeaten at home since 1998, has to sweep both for its first Davis Cup triumph. But it’s hopes became bleaker Saturday, with Potro undergoing treatment on his right thigh after hurting it in Friday’s singles. If he cannot play, he could be replaced by Calleri or Jose Acasuso. Calleri and Nalbandian, playing their first Davis Cup doubles since the 2006 final, won the first set, but couldn’t hold back the veteran Spanish pair over 3 hours, 18 minutes. BASEBALL Billingsley has surgery after fall Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley had surgery Saturday after fracturing his leg in a fall at his Pennsylvania home. Team spokesman Josh Rawitch said that the 24-year-old Billingsley slipped on ice outside his house in Reading, Pa., and suffered a spiral fracture of the fibula in his left leg on Friday. He had surgery to put a plate in and will be in a cast for two weeks. Rawitch said the surgery went as expected and Billingsley should be ready to throw by spring training. Billingsley was 16-10 with a 3. 14 ERA this past season. He lost Game 2 and Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. HOCKEY Devils’ Mottau suspended New Jersey defenseman Mike Mottau received a two-game suspension from the NHL on Saturday for elbowing New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen. The Devils announced the suspension the day after the game with the Islanders, and the NHL confirmed it later Saturday. Mottau came across the ice 3: 22 into the third period and caught Nielsen with an elbow that laid out the center. Nielsen had to be helped off the ice with head and leg injuries. Nielsen is expected to be sidelined eight to 12 weeks due to multiple injuries to his right leg, the Islanders said Saturday. A team spokesman declined to give specifics, but said surgery wasn’t planned. The team added that the 24-year-old didn’t sustain a concussion. Trent Hunter immediately came to Nielsen’s defense after the hit and fought Mottau, earning an instigator penalty and a misconduct in addition to the fighting major. Those penalties wiped out the power play the Islanders would have had for Mottau’s initial hit, which drew only a minor penalty for elbowing. Mottau will lose $ 8, 198. 92 in salary for the suspension and will sit out at Tampa Bay today and at Florida on Wednesday. He is eligible to return next Saturday at Pittsburgh. HORSE RACING
Wishful Tomcat wins Wishful Tomcat led all the way Saturday, beating That’srightofficer 3 by 1 / 4 lengths in the $ 110, 100 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct in New York. The chestnut trained by Gary Contessa extended his winning streak to three in the final major 3-year-old stakes of the season in New York. Ramon Dominguez was aboard as Wishful Tomcat took charge early before pulling away from Web Gem on the final turn. The New York bred
im-1 proved to 5 for 11, running the 1 / 8 miles in 1: 53. 28 over the fast track on a cold and windy afternoon. Wishful Tomcat earned $ 66, 060 for Winter Park Partners, paying $ 16. 20, $ 7. 50 and $ 5. That’srightofficer rallied from sixth to get the place spot, returning $ 5. 10 and $ 3. 10. Ready Set paid $ 2. 90 to show. Coach Shaw was fourth followed by Lieutenant Ron, the 6-5 favorite, Premium Gold and Web Gem. BOXING Hatton hammers Malignaggi Ricky Hatton dominated from the second round Saturday night in Las Vegas before Paulie Malignaggi’s trainer came into the ring 28 seconds into the 11 th round to stop a lopsided bout. Fighting in the same ring where he suffered his only loss against Floyd Mayweather Jr. a year ago, Hatton (45-1 ) stunned Malignaggi early and dominated him the rest of the way in a fight that was never really in doubt. He was ahead by wide margins on all three ringside scorecards in staking his claim as the best 140-pounder in the world. Hatton had won nine out of the previous 10 rounds on all three ringside scorecards when the fight was finally stopped. Though Hatton never managed to put Malignaggi down, he hurt him several times during the fight. Ringside punching stats showed Hatton landing 99 of 377 power punches to just 25 of 133 for Malignaggi, a Brooklyn, N. Y., native who lost for the second time in 27 fights. Hugo Hernan Garay, of Argentina, defended his WBA light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Juergen Braehmer on Saturday night in Rostock, Germany. Garay took control of the fight in the first three rounds, attacking and pressuring the German with fast combinations and forcing Braehmer (31-2 ) to surrender his original fight plan. Fighting only 56 miles from his place of birth, the hard-punching Braehmer managed to get back into the bout with some uppercuts, turning the middle rounds into a slugfest. The judges scored it 118-110, 117-112 and 116-115, all for Garay. Garay (32-3 ) was foiled in two previous attempts to win the crown in Germany, losing twice to Hungarian Zsolt Erdei for the WBO version of the title. Garay finally won the vacant WBA belt last March when he defeated Yuri Barashian in Buenos Aires. The 30-year-old Braehmer was rated No. 1 by the WBA. FIGURE SKATING
Joubert, Kostner win Frenchman Brian Joubert’s nearperfect short program gave him such a big lead, he won the Cup of Russia in Moscow even with a less-thanstellar free skate. Joubert finished fourth in the free skate, five points behind Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic. Verner was second overall. Joubert’s compatriot Alban Preaubert, the only competitor in the field not to stumble in the long program, won the bronze. Americans Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon were fourth and fifth. Carolina Kostner of Italy topped error-strewn Fumie Suguri with an elegant free skate to win the women’s title. Suguri’s mistakes allowed Rachael Flatt of the United States to take the silver medal after posting the session’s top technical score. The Japanese skater finished third after two-footing a triple salchow and not even attempting other planned elements. China’s Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao hung on to win the pairs. The reigning world silver medalists finished behind Russia’s Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov in the free skate, but Kawaguchi and Smirnov’s margin of victory wasn’t enough to close the gap on the Chinese from the short program. In the ice dance, local favorites Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin hold a twopoint lead over Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski after the original dance. Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White are a distant fourth after a disastrous original dance.
TENNIS Connors arrested outside basketball game
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Tennis great Jimmy Connors was arrested outside the campus arena where UC Santa Barbara and top-ranked North Carolina were playing a basketball game.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion was taken into custody Friday night after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation, police Sgt. Dan Massey said in a statement. A police dispatcher said Connors was arrested at the beginning of the game. A Santa Barbara County jail employee said Connors was booked and released but did not have details.
Connors could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday. Connors lives in the Santa Barbara area and attends a handful of the Gauchos’ games each season.
Connors was ranked No. 1 for five consecutive years in the 1970 s, and had a fiery temperament on the court. Earlier this year, he resigned as Andy Roddick’s coach after working together for nearly two years.
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