Sport Briefs
The Age
Friday February 12, 2010
TENNISStepanek outRADEK Stepanek has become the first defending champion in two decades to lose in the first round of the SAP Open in San Jose, falling 6-3, 6-4 to Belgium€™s Xavier Malisse. Stepanek is the first defending champion to lose his first match the following year at this tournament since Brad Gilbert in 1990.Dementieva winsRUSSIAN top seed Elena Dementieva has beaten compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA Paris Indoor Open. Dementieva, a second-round casualty at the Australian Open, took the first set 6-4 and was 4-1 up in the second set before Pavlyuchenkova staged a mini-revival, only for the world No. 7 to eventually prevail 6-4, 6-4.RUGBY LEAGUESlater pulls outMELBOURNE and Australian full-back Billy Slater has pulled out of tomorrow€™s All-Stars game at Skilled Park because of an ankle injury he suffered at the team€™s first training session on Monday. Coach Wayne Bennett has called Slater€™s Storm teammate Brett Finch into the side to face the indigenous All-Stars.MOTOR SPORTWebber confidentMARK Webber is confident of another competitive season after a shakedown run in his formula one challenger. The RB6 does not radically depart from the car which gave Webber and teammate Sebastian Vettel six victories last year. Apart from small aerodynamic changes the car, like its rivals, is longer to accommodate a larger fuel tank since refuelling during a race is banned this season.BOXINGGreen wants MundineINTERNATIONAL Boxing Organisation cruiserweight world champion Danny Green has challenged Anthony Mundine to a re-match, putting forward an offer his arch-rival will find tough to refuse. Green is prepared to fight Mundine in Sydney instead of his home town of Perth and says the purse will be split 45-45, with the remaining 10 per cent to go to a charity that will assist indigenous Australians.BASKETBALLUtah€™s streak endsUTAH missed a chance to notch a 10th straight NBA win, beaten 96-81 at home by a Los Angeles Lakers side still missing Kobe Bryant. Pau Gasol had 22 points and 19 rebounds as Los Angeles won its third straight without Bryant, who is out with an ankle injury. The Lakers got 25 points and 11 rebounds from Lamar Odom.
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