tennis
Kohlschreiber gets fast start to season
• Philipp Kohlschreiber opened his season with a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in the first round of the Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar. The third-seeded German was joined in the second round by sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who battled past Bjorn Phau of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Injury-plagued Russian Nikolay Davydenko cruised past Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-3. Kohlschreiber outlasted his opponent with a gritty display. With both players holding serve throughout the first set, Kohlschreiber finally found a forehand winner in the tiebreaker.
“It was a good first set and he never gave me any easy balls,” said Kohlschreiber, who wrapped up the match with an ace. “At 29, I’m one of the older guys in the tour and I hope to adjust a few things in my game next year.”
After breaking Dodig in just the second game of the second set, the German pressed his advantage and broke again in the fourth before wrapping up the match. Troicki was stretched hard in a thrilling match that lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes.
• Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to unseeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-5 in swirling wind in the first round of the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
hockey
Union’s counteroffer presented to NHL
• The NHL players’ union presented a counteroffer to the league Monday in the latest attempt to resolve a lockout and start a shortened season. The sides met at NHL headquarters in New York City and negotiated for the first time since they met with a federal mediator on Dec. 13. They took a break while the league considered the proposal, and union representatives stayed in the building in case of further talks. So far, a deal has been elusive and out of reach.
• Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin, 27, announced that he and tennis player Maria Kirilenko, 25 and ranked 14th in the WTA world rankings, are engaged.
• The United States routed Slovakia 9-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the world junior hockey championships in Ufa, Russia. The Americans’ prospects of reaching the knockout round had looked uncertain after a loss to Canada. The U.S. plays the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
other sports
Boise State won’t be joining Big East
• Boise State backed out on a commitment to join the Big East and will remain a member of the Mountain West. The school and the conference announced they had come to an agreement to keep the Broncos playing in the league they have been a part of for the past two seasons. Boise State was scheduled to join the Big East next year for football only. It was going to put its other sports in the Big West.
• ESPN anchor Hannah Storm will return to the air today, exactly three weeks after she was seriously burned in a propane gas grill accident at her Connecticut home.
• Olympian Jonathan Kuck claimed the men’s allround title and fellow Olympian Maria Lamb took the women’s title on the final day of the U.S. Long Track Championships in Kearns, Utah.
• Groundbreaking for the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta will be Jan. 28 and the facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2014. The site is in the Centennial Olympic Park area downtown.
• U.S. doubles luger Christian Niccum is out indefinitely after tearing an Achilles tendon while playing basketball. The 34-year-old Niccum will undergo surgery on his left heel Wednesday.
• Former AL MVP Miguel Tejada, 38, says he has reached a deal with the Kansas City Royals on a one-year contract for $1.1 million and another $400,000 in performance bonuses. He last played in the big leagues in 2011 with San Francisco, hitting .239.
— From wire reports
