From Beacon Journal wire services

Venus Williams of the U.S. was upset Tuesday in the opening round at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to Flavia Pennetta of Italy.

Williams, ranked eighth, also lost in the first round of a tournament in March in Memphis, Tenn., dropped to 1-3 against Pennetta, ranked 18th.

''I just had a day where I could not control my game. She played well,'' Williams

On the men's side, defending champion Nikolay Davydenko advanced by beating Florent Serra of France 6-1, 7-5, and Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin upset sixth-seeded Michael Llodra 7-6 (2), 6-3 in only his second ATP Tour match.

More tennis: Vienna upset, too

• Top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka was upset 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5) by German qualifier Philipp Petzschner in the first round of the BA Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Austria.

• Top-seeded David Nalbandian cruised past American Bobby Reynolds 6-1, 6-1 and advanced to the second round of the Stockholm Open in Sweden.

Autos: Softer tires do well at Indy

• Goodyear may have an answer for one of Indianapolis Motor Speedway's toughest challenges: softer tires. As drivers took a break during Tuesday's latest testing session at the speedway, NASCAR and Goodyear officials said they had seen dramatic improvement in tire wear, prompting optimism they could avoid a repeat of the Allstate 400 debacle in July. ''We're not all the way there, but we're pretty close to it,'' said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. ''We were in about an eight- or nine-lap window before (during testing), and that got up to 10, and now we're in the mid-20 range. So it's improved 300 percent already. We walked the track last night, and the track was taking on rubber, so that's a good sign.''

• The Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from Formula One's 2009 calendar, leaving North America without a race on the circuit.

Golf: Mickelson on Europe Tour?

• The European PGA tour announced an ambitious schedule this week that stretches across more than two dozen countries on five continents, has more tournaments than there are weeks in the year, and culminates with a $20 million destination in Dubai. Phil Mickelson is among those who might take up membership. Vijay Singh already has said he wants to rake in the cash at Dubai, and it would not be surprising if he saw familiar faces such as Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim trying to stop him. The most compelling component of the new tour is renaming the Order of Merit to ''The Race to Dubai,'' which has a similar concept to the FedEx Cup in the U.S. without having to calculate points or calling it something that it's not — playoffs. The top 60 on the money list qualify for the season-ending Dubai World Championship, which offers a $10 million purse for the tournament, along with a $10 million bonus for the top 15 on the money list.

Cycling: Olympic status questioned

• The future of men's road cycling in the Olympics could be threatened unless the sport cleans up its doping record. Thomas Bach, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, said the latest Tour de France doping revelations have further damaged the sport's credibility and called its Olympic status into question. The head of world cycling called Bach's suggestion to put cycling on an Olympic pause ''completely unacceptable'' and said the sport was weeding out the drug cheats. Anti-doping and cycling officials said Monday that Leonardo Piepoli of Italy and Stefan Schumacher of Germany had tested positive during this year's Tour de France for CERA, an advanced version of the blood booster EPO. Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco previously admitted to CERA use. The head of the Tour de France hailed a new lab test that has exposed the three riders.

Other: Ex-YSU coach dies at 93

• Dom Rosselli, the winningest basketball and baseball coach at Youngstown State, died Tuesday morning at 93, the university said. Rosselli totaled 1,000 career wins in the two sports over 38 years. He also was an assistant football coach for 21 years. Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said Rosselli will be missed because he affected so many lives. Rosselli leaves his wife, Connie, four children and several grandchildren.

• The Orlando Magic of the NBA picked up their $2.8 million option on former Duke star J.J. Redick for next season. Redick has struggled to work his way into the backcourt rotation and last season asked for a trade.

• Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh was reprimanded by the Pac-10 for criticizing the conference's officials following last weekend's loss at Notre Dame. ''Pac-10 rules prohibit comments by a coach about officiating other than to the conference office,'' commissioner Tom Hansen said.