Agassi Is Beaten in His Final Australian Open Tuneup
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Andre Agassi lost his final tuneup for the Australian Open to David Nalbandian, 6-2, 6-3, Saturday in the title match of the Commonwealth Bank International at Melbourne.
Nalbandian, who upset top-ranked Andy Roddick a day earlier, broke Agassi four times and applied constant pressure.
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Third-seeded Carlos Moya injured his right ankle and was forced to quit in the first set against seventh-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, giving the Australian star his third Adidas International title at Sydney.
Top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne won the women’s title, defeating third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, 6-4, 6-4. Earlier Saturday, Mauresmo beat Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in a rain-delayed semifinal.
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Dominik Hrbaty won his second straight ATP Tour title, beating 17-year-old Rafael Nadal, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, in the Heineken Open at Auckland, New Zealand. He won the AAPT Championships last week in Adelaide.
Winter Sports
Hilde Gerg won a World Cup downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in which runner-up Renate Goetschl overtook Anja Paerson for first place in the overall standings.
Gerg won in 1 minute 17.57 seconds on a course shortened slightly because of a snowstorm. Goetschl was 0.30 seconds behind. Carole Montillet was third, 0.39 seconds back.
Paerson finished 24th and trails Goetschl by a point in the overall standings -- 789 to 788. Gerg is third, 79 points behind.
Two Americans finished in the top 10. Lindsey Kildow of Burnsville, Minn., was a career-best fifth and Kirsten Clark of Raymond, Maine, was sixth.
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Three-time Olympic champion Georg Hackl recorded his 32nd World Cup luge victory, tying the record held by Markus Prock.
Hackl had the fastest time in both heats to finish in 1 minute 51.211 seconds at Winterberg, Germany. David Moeller was second, 0.237 seconds behind.
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Michael Uhrmann edged Adam Malysz to win a World Cup ski jump event held at night in Zakopane, Poland. Uhrmann had jumps of 134 and 126.5 meters to finish with 270.9 points.
College Football
Iowa’s Fred Russell ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns to help Aina beat Kai, 26-7, in the Hula Bowl at Wailuku, Hawaii.
Aina means “land” in Hawaiian and Kai means “ocean.”
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Former Nebraska interim coach Bo Pelini was hired as Oklahoma’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, joining the Cornhuskers’ longtime conference rival.
He replaces Mike Stoops, brother of Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops who left to become Arizona’s head coach last month. Pelini will share duties with the Sooners’ other co-defensive coordinator, Brent Venables.
Baseball
The Montreal Expos agreed to terms with right-handed reliever Rocky Biddle, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing. Biddle led the Expos in saves (34) and appearances (73) last season and went 5-8 with a 4.65 earned-run average.... The Boston Red Sox and right-handed reliever Scott Williamson agreed to terms on a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration. He went 0-1 with a 6.20 ERA in 24 appearances.
Miscellany
Ed Moses broke his short-course world record in the 200-meter breaststroke at a World Cup meet in Berlin. He was timed in 2 minutes 2.92 seconds, beating the record of 2:03.17 set at the same event in the same pool Jan. 26, 2002.... Annika Sorenstam will play a reduced schedule on this year’s LPGA Tour in a bid to win all four major championships in a single season.
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