Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — TENNIS

Monfils advances in Metz

Seventh-seeded Gael Monfils of France extended his successful return after several months out with a knee injury Thursday, reaching the quarterfinals of the Moselle Open in Metz, France, with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory over compatriot Nicolas Mahut. It was Monfils’ second match since losing to Brian Baker of the United States at the Open de Nice in May. The 2009 Metz champion hit 12 aces to secure a match against secondseeded Philipp Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber, a runner-up three years ago, defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.

Top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg, Russia. Third-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia also reached the final eight, beating Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-3, 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark cruised into the quarterfinals of the Korea Open by beating Caroline Garcia of France, 6-2, 6-3 in Seoul, South Korea. Wozniacki will face Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, who defeated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 7-6 (6). Varvara Lepchenko of the United States ousted Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-4, 6-1. Ekaterina Makarova of Russia also reached the quarterfinals by beating Jamie Hampton of the United States 6-3, 7-5.

GOLF

Thompson on top in LPGA

Lexi Thompson opened her title defense Thursday in the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala., with a career-best 9-under-par 63 to take a two-stroke lead. Last year, Thompson became the youngest champion in LPGA Tour history at 16, winning by five strokes. Fifteenyear-old amateur Lydia Ko broke the record last month in the Canadian Women’s Open. Thompsonhad nine birdies in her bogey-free round on the links-style Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex.She missed only one green in regulation and had 26 putts. Lizette Salas and Hee Young Park shot 65, and second-ranked Stacy Lewis(Arkansas Razorbacks) was another stroke back along with Karen Stupples (Arkansas State), Amanda Blumenherts, Wendy Ward and Mi Hyang Lee.

BASKETBALL Curry cleared to play

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has received full medical clearance to resume all basketball-related activities. The announcement by the team Thursday comes after Curry’s surgically repaired right ankle was examined again by Dr. Richard Ferkel in Van Nuys, Calif. Curry missed 40 games last season because of repeated problems with his right ankle. The team said his most recent operation April 25 was an “exploratory procedure” that “revealed a stable ankle with no structural damage and consisted of cleaning out loose debris and scar tissue.” Curry averaged career lows of 14.7 points, 5.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds last season. The former Davidson star had surgery to repair a tendon in his ankle in the summer of 2011 and never seemed at full speed in the 26games he played.

Phoenix Suns forward Channing Frye will be out indefinitely after a preseason physical revealed an enlarged heart. The Suns said Frye has developed a dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition discovered during an echocardiogram by team cardiologist Dr. Tim Byrne. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, primarily affecting the left ventricle, which becomes enlarged and can’t pump blood to the body with as much force as a healthy heart, according to mayoclinc.com. Frye signed with Phoenix, his hometown team, in 2009 and has averaged 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in three seasons.

The Los Angeles Clippers have exercised their fourth-year contract option on guard Eric Bledsoe. He averaged 3.3 points in 40 regularseason games last season. In his first two years in the NBA, Bledsoe averaged 5.6 points, 2.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds.

BASKETBALL Gillispie resigns as Texas Tech coach

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech men’s basketball Coach Billy Gillispie has resigned due to health concerns, the school said Thursday, ending a bizarre and disappointing one-year run at the program he took over with designs on building a West Texas powerhouse.

The school and fans had hoped the 52-year-old Gillispie could orchestrate another turnaround like the ones he put together at Texas-El Paso and Texas A&M. Instead, after being out of coaching for two years, he led the Red Raiders to an 8-23 record last season that included just one Big 12 victory.

“Billy has decided to focus on his health, and we wish him a full recovery,” Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt said in a news release. “We are proud of the young men that he has brought to this campus. Billy’s decision allows him to concentrate on his wellbeing and allows us to turn our attention to preparations for the upcoming season.”

Gillispie didn’t immediately return a call or text from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Gillispie will be paid the remainder of this contract year. Chris Walker, who took over day-to-day operations, will remain in that position until an interim head coach is chosen.

The move comes less than a month after the school announced it was looking into allegations of player mistreatment last fall by the veteran coach - a sensitive topic at Texas Tech, given the 2009 firing of football Coach Mike Leach after claimsthat he mistreated a player suffering from a concussion.

In January, the school reprimanded Gillispie and assistant coach Brooks Jennings after a review found the team had exceeded practice-time limits in 2011. The school reported the secondary violation to the NCAA and penalized itself by reducing the team’s practice time by about 12 hours.

While all that was filtering out, Gillispie’s health was apparently growing worse.

Twice in a 10-day span this past month, 911 calls were made from Gillispie’s home. The first, Aug. 31, came hours before he was to meet with Hocutt and led to a six-day stay in a Lubbock hospital.

He was not taken to the hospital after the second call Sept. 10. But the following day, Gillispie left for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he said he got treatment for kidney problems and abnormal headaches.

Five years ago, Gillispie was one of the hottest names in the college game and had reached a pinnacle: coaching at perennial powerhouse Kentucky.

That peak lasted just two years. He was fired from Kentucky in 2009 after going 40-27 in two seasons, and the Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years. When he returned to coaching at Texas Tech two years later, he came cheap. He went from an annual salary at Kentucky of $2.3 million to $800,000 a year at Texas Tech, signing a five-year contract to succeed Pat Knight.