VIENNA — Marinko Matosevic of Australia rallied past sixth-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 Monday in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open.
Matosevic beats 6th-seeded Haase
in Vienna
VIENNA — Marinko Matosevic of Australia rallied past sixth-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 Monday in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open.
Matosevic dropped serve three times in the opening set but didn’t face a break point after that. Haase’s two career titles both came in Austria.
Gilles Muller of Luxembourg hit 16 aces in beating Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3. Muller will next play two-time champion Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
Nieminen, Youzhny advance at Stockholm Open
STOCKHOLM — Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny advanced to the second round of the Stockholm Open on Monday with straight-set wins.
Nieminen, who lost last year’s final to Gael Monfils of France, was down 4-2 in the second set but recovered to win the match 6-3, 6-4.
Earlier, Youzhny beat Brian Baker of the United States 6-3, 6-1.
Safarova reaches second round
at Kremlin Cup
MOSCOW — Eighth-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic advanced to the second round of the Kremlin Cup on Monday by beating Russian wild card Margarita Gasparyan 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Safarova won five consecutive games in the first set, then broke twice in the third before serving out the match at love. In the second round, Safarova will face fellow Czech Klara Zakopalova, who beat Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-3, 6-3.
Urszula Radwanska of Poland beat 2009 champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 6-1. Radwanska will next play former top-ranked player Caroline Wozniacki, who entered the event on a wild card.
Earlier, Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden beat Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-2, 6-4.
Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open Champion, is the top-seeded player in the women’s draw, while Marion Bartoli of France is No. 2.
Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine leads the men’s field. Andreas Seppi is seeded second.
In the men’s first round, sixth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan rallied to beat German veteran Bjorn Phau 5-7, 7-5, 6-1. He will next face Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, who defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-6 (9), 7-6 (2).
Eighth-seeded Tatsumo Ito of Japan beat Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
NASCAR and Fox sign 8-year extension through 2022
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR and Fox Sports Media Group announced a $2.4 billion, eight-year extension Monday that runs through 2022 and keeps the prestigious Daytona 500 and first third of the Sprint Cup Series on the network.
Fox, which has been with NASCAR since 2001, will pay an average of $300 million annually beginning in 2015 in its first fee increase in more than a decade.
The deal was put together during an early negotiating window with Fox, which has two full seasons remaining on its current contract with NASCAR, and at a time when the motorsports industry is still battling the economy.
The Saturday night race at Charlotte Motor Speedway had an announced crowd of 100,000, the smallest since NASCAR began announcing attendance in 2003. Talladega a week earlier also had its smallest crowd.
Final OKs given for Seattle arena deal
SEATTLE — The King County Council and the Seattle City Council gave their final approval Monday to an agreement to build a $490 million basketball and hockey arena in the city, despite the threat of a lawsuit from longshore workers.
The County Council approved it unanimously, while the City Council voted 7-2. Both bodies had previously OK’d different versions of the deal.
“This is a very good financial plan here,” said County Councilman Reagan Dunn, a Republican who earlier had concerns about the deal. “It’s been well thought-through.”
Mayor Mike McGinn called the votes important steps toward bringing professional men’s basketball back to Seattle. He and King County Executive Dow Constantine were scheduled to sign the deal Tuesday.
Olympic BMX
cyclist dies in Texas auto accident
HOUSTON — Olympic BMX cyclist Kyle Bennett has been killed in an automobile accident in eastern Texas. He was 33.
A statement from USA Cycling says the single-vehicle crash happened early Sunday in Conroe, Texas, north of Houston.
Bennett was a three-time BMX world champion and won an automatic spot on the first U.S. BMX Olympic team in 2008.
In the statement, USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson said Bennett was a pioneer in Olympic BMX cycling and an inspiration to those who knew him.
Bennett is survived by his fiancé and a young daughter.
Reds extend manager Dusty Baker’s deal for 2 years
CINCINNATI — The Reds and manager Dusty Baker agreed to a two-year contract extension.
The 63-year-old manager led the team to its second National League Central Division title in three seasons this year. He has been with the Reds five seasons.
The longtime player also has managed the Giants and Chicago Cubs, winning a total five division titles.
By wire sources