Andy Roddick of the United States hits a shot to Russia's Dmitry Tursunov in his first match in the RCA Championships in Indianapolis Tuesday. (AP Photo)

INDIANAPOLIS, USA, July 20--Top-seeded Andy Roddick had to work extra hard Tuesday night to keep alive his bid for a third consecutive RCA Championships, playing three tiebreakers to defeat Russian Dmitry Tursunov in a second-round match.
Roddick, 11-0 in three trips to the tournament at the Indianapolis Tennis Center, closed the match with his 17th ace for a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5) triumph, Reuters reported.
Joining Roddick in the third round was Robby Ginepri with an upset of eighth-seeded Vince Spadea 6-4, 6-3 in a match between two Americans.
Tursunov, 22, and ranked No. 90, had 18 aces among his 51 winners and kept Roddick moving all night with aggressive shots.
There were no service breaks and only four break points in the first two sets, and in each case, Tursunov managed to avoid being broken.
The first break came in the opening game of the third set and it gave Tursunov a 2-0 advantage. Roddick then won three straight games and later opened a 5-3 lead. Tursunov won the next two games and each player then held serve to force the third tiebreaker.
Roddick, playing Tursunov for the first time, took a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker. Tursunov saved two match points before Roddick’s second ace of the tiebreaker ended the match.
Seventh-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain, the 2002 champion, also played three tiebreakers to eliminate Weslie Moodie of South Africa, 6-7 (4). 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) in another second-round match.
Earlier, veteran Jan-Michael Gambill defeated Donald Young in straight sets in the opening round, ending the 15-year-old’s bid for his first professional victory.
Gambill advanced to a second-round match against doubles partner Taylor Dent with a 7-6 (10), 6-2 victory over the teenager from Atlanta.
Jonas Bjorkman, once No. 4 on the ATP tour and out of the Top 100 this year, advanced to the second round. The 33-year-old Swede, who won the RCA Championships in 1997, took a small step as he defeated Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 7-6 (3), 6-1.
In other matches Tuesday, most American players had a tough time. Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador beat American qualifier Mashiska Washington 7-6 (3), 6-3; George Bastl of Switzerland defeated American Jeff Morrison 6-4, 6-4; Ryan Phau of Germany beat American Amer Delic 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3; and Israel’s Noam Okum eliminated American Brendan Evans 6-3, 6-3.

MOSCOW, July 20--Czech Ondrej Sosenka broke the world cycling hour-record, covering 49.7 kilometers at Moscow’s Olympic velodrome in Krylatskoye on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Sosenka beat the old mark of 49.441 km, set by Briton Chris Boardman on a traditional bike in 2000.
“I knew I had a good chance to set the record in Moscow because they have a bigger track here than in most other European cities,“ said the 29-year-old Czech. “The big track suits me better as it has a longer straightaway.“
The Krylatskoye, the site of the 1980 Olympic cycling competition, has a 333-meter indoor wooden oval as opposed to more conventional 250-meter tracks.

Total Network Solutions' Steven Evans (r) slides in on Liverpool's Anthony Le Tallec (l) during their UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, second leg soccer match at the Racecourse Ground, northern Wales, Tuesday. (Reuters Photo)

WREXHAM, Uk, July 20--Steven Gerrard scored twice in a two-minute span, and defending champion Liverpool beat Total Network Solutions 3-0 Tuesday night to advance to the second qualifying round of the European Champions League, AP reported.
Liverpool won the home-and-home series by a 6-0 aggregate score and next plays Lithuania’s Kaunas, which beat HB Torshavn of the Faeroe Islands 4-0 Tuesday to advance with an 8-2 aggregate win.
Djibril Cisse scored for Liverpool in the 26th minute and Gerrard, who scored all three goals in the first leg last week, added goals in the 85th and 86th minutes. Dietmar Hamann missed a penalty kick for Liverpool.
Welsh champion TNS wasn’t able to host the match at its own stadium, Treflan, because it was too small to satisfy UEFA regulations. The game was at Wrexham, whose Racecourse stadium has a capacity of 10,000.
Liverpool did not originally qualify for this year’s tournament because it failed to finish among the top four in England’s Premier League. After Liverpool won the Champions League final, UEFA said the club could defend the title but would have to start play in the first qualifying round, meaning it must play six games to reach the 32-team field for the first round.
In the only other game of the day, Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia beat Levadia Tallinn of Estonia 2-0 and advanced on 2-1 aggregate.

DETROIT, USA,
July 20--Larry Brown, who registered his 100th career playoff coaching victory last month, was fired on Tuesday after guiding the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back National Basketball Association finals appearances, AFP said.
“We appreciate the two tremendous seasons the team enjoyed with Larry as coach,“ team president Joe Dumars said. “We wish him the best and good health going forward.“
The leading candidate to replace Brown is Flip Saunders, who was fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2004-05 season.
Before the announcement, there was rampant speculation as to whether Detroit would fire Brown, who dealt with a host of health problems this season, or negotiate a settlement on the remaining three years of a five-year deal.
The Pistons chose the latter, although no details of the resolution were released.
Brown’s agent Joe Glass said Tuesday that his client was being fired by the Pistons.
“Larry’s not quitting,“ said agent Joe Glass of Brown, who had three years and 18 million US dollars left on a contract he signed two years ago.
“The allegations that this is what Larry wanted to have happen are completely unfounded without any verification whatsoever.“

Canada's Alexandre Despatie (c) holds his gold medal in the men's 3m springboard event flanked by silver medalist Troy Dumais of the US (l) and He Chong of China (r) at the World Aquatic Championships in Montreal Tuesday. (Reuters Photo)

MONTREAL, July 20--Alexandre Despatie won gold in the three-meter springboard at the world swimming championships on Tuesday as Canada continued to ride a wave of success in the diving pool by reaching the podium for the third straight day, Reuters said.
Despatie, who led after the preliminaries and semifinals, capped a near flawless performance on a sun-kissed day before his hometown crowd by scoring perfect 10s from three judges on the third of six final dives to finish with a total of 813.60.
It is the second gold medal in as many days for Canada, matching the two won by China on Sunday, the opening day of the two-week championships.
After a bronze in the three-meter synchronized event, the United States was back on the podium with Troy Dumais taking silver with 752.76.
China’s He Chong, a gold medalist in the three-meter synchronized competition, added a bronze to his world championship haul by taking third with 730.77 ahead of Olympic champion and team mate Peng Bo.
Winners of a record six of eight gold medals at the Athens Olympics, China looked poised to stage another assault on the podium in Montreal but have been blocked by a motivated squad of Canadian divers energized by raucous flag-waving crowds.
While Blythe Hartley’s victory in the one-meter springboard and a bronze from Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion in the 10-meter platform synchronized event were pleasant surprises, Despatie was always likely to provide the hosts with a gold.
Canada’s most accomplished diver, the Montreal native delivered as expected with a precision performance that produced the highest score in the event at a world championships.
“A lot of people were expecting so much and I’m just happy that I didn’t disappoint them,“ said Despatie. “I’m hoping this (medal) will provide another motivation to the team.
“Hopefully, it gives a tap on the back to the whole team.“ The world champion in the 10m platform, but unable to defend his title here because of a back injury, Despatie turned his attention to the three-meter springboard.
The change in focus was hardly a stretch for the versatile 20-year-old, who took silver in the three-meter event in Athens.

LONDON, July 20--Former England striker Andrew Cole is poised to leave Fulham for Premier League rivals Manchester City, Reuters reported.
The former Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers player has flown to Thailand to join the squad on tour in anticipation of the completion of his transfer, City said on their website on Tuesday.
Cole, 33, the second highest goalscorer in Premier League history, has already passed a medical at City. No fee has been disclosed.
City sold Shaun Wright-Phillips to Chelsea on Monday.
England winger Wright-Phillips cost the Premier League champions 21 million pounds ($36.54 million), according to media reports.

RALEIGH, USA, July 20--Top seed Patty Schnyder enjoyed a routine first round victory at the Cincinnati Open, easing past Danish wild card Caroline Wozniack 6-0 6-3 in Ohio on Tuesday, Reuters said.
The Swiss world number 12 faced Japan’s Akio Nakamura in the second round on Wednesday. Nakamura advanced on Monday, defeating American Abigail Spears 6-7 6-0 6-3 in an opening round match.
In a day of few upsets, Schnyder was joined in the next round by the tournament’s three other top seeds.
Second seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia also eased to a straight sets victory, defeating American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3, 6-3.
Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia dropped the first set before advancing past qualifier Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 4-6 6-3 6-0, while the fourth ranked Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia cruised past American Lilia Osterloh 6-1 6-2.
Two seeds were defeated, however, with number five Marion Bartoli of France beaten 1-6 6-4 7-6 by America’s Bethanie Mattek, while German seventh seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld fell to rising Indian player Sania Mirza, 6-4 6-3.

MADRID, Spain,
July 20--Atletico Madrid are on the verge of buying Bulgaria striker Martin Petrov from VfL Wolfsburg, Reuters reported.
“Atletico Madrid have expressed their willingness to meet all the necessary contractual conditions to complete the signing of Martin Petrov,“ said the German Bundesliga club on their website on Tuesday.
Media reports say the transfer fee will be 10 million euros ($11.99 million).
Petrov will become the Primera Liga team’s third major signing of the close season, joining Serbia & Montenegro striker Mateja Kezman and Argentine forward Maxi Rodriguez.
Atletico have also put former Boca Juniors coach Carlos Bianchi in charge.
Petrov, 26, began his career with his local club Botev Vratza before moving to CSKA Sofia and Swiss side Servette.
He joined Wolfsburg in 2001 and was one of their most influential players in recent seasons, scoring 28 goals in 116 Bundesliga appearances.
Petrov hit all four goals in a 4-3 comeback win over Mainz in October and was voted player of the season by the club’s fans.

RALEIGH, USA, July 20--Michael Johnson could lose the last of his five Olympic gold medals five years after the Sydney Games when a court in Switzerland rules on a doping scandal on Thursday, Reuters said.
The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will announce at 0800 GMT whether Johnson and his American teammates should forfeit their 4x400 meters golds because of a doping violation by squad member Jerome Young in 1999.
Athletics world ruling body, the IAAF, has recommended to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the American squad be stripped of their medals.
The recommendation came after CAS ruled in 2004 that Young should not have been allowed to run in Sydney because of the1999 positive test for nandrolone that was overturned by a US apeals panel after a secret hearing.
The US Olympic Committee (USOC) disagreed that the entire team should be penalized and appealed to CAS, whose decisions are binding, to order the IOC and IAAF to ’to desist in their efforts to change the results’.
If CAS upholds the USOC request, the medals stay with Johnson and team mates, three of whom have been hit with doping bans in recent years.
If CAS disagrees, IAAF officials are expected formally to annul the Sydney result and ask the IOC to vote to redistribute the medals. Nigeria would then claim gold, Jamaica silver and the Bahamas bronze.
If CAS turns down the American appeal, the IOC is likely to leave any formal decision to reallocate the medals to its executive board, which next meets in October in Lausanne.
Johnson, now an agent who represents Olympic 400 meters gold medalist Jeremy Wariner among others, has said little publicly about the affair.
When the IAAF made its 2004 recommendation to strip the medals, the 200 and 400 meters world record holder said ’there is nothing for me to do until the final decision is made’.

MONTREAL, July 20--Pinch hitter Chris Woodward slammed an 11th inning two-run homer to lift the New York Mets past the San Diego Padres 3-1 in National League action at Shea Stadium on Tuesday, Reuters said.
Woodward took a 0-1 offering from Chris Hammond and launched it over the wall in deep left for his third home run of the season, making a winner of Braden Looper (3-4), who worked two innings of scoreless relief to earn the decision.
Cliff Floyd smacked his 23rd homer of the season and had a pair of hits for the Mets.
Hammond (5-1) absorbed his first loss of the season, charged with two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings of work.
In Pittsburgh, Lance Berkman clubbed a two-run homer and Eric Bruntlett had three RBIs as the Houston Astros eased past the Pirates 6-4 to complete a doubleheader sweep.
In the opening game, Morgan Ensberg, Willy Taveras and Jose Vizcaino each had a pair of RBIs to lead the Astros to a 9-3
In Washington, John Patterson delivered eight scoreless innings and Preston Wilson and Ryan Church each had an RBI and scored once as the Nationals shut out the Colorado Rockies 4-0.