TENNIS
Nadal wins 1st of season
Rafael Nadal won his first match of the new season 6-7 (5) 6-3, 6-1 against Spanish countryman Pablo Carreno at the Qatar Open on Tuesday in Doha. In the first-set tiebreaker, Nadal saved three set points, but lost the fourth on a Carreno forehand winner he could only watch go past. Nadal took early control of the final two sets. He posted 30 winners and took advantage of five of nine break points in the two-hour match. Earlier, Illya Marchenko of Ukraine upset defending champion and fourth-seeded David Ferrer 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-2 for his first career top-10 victory. Before beating Ferrer, the 94th-ranked Marchenko had never even won a set off of a top-10 opponent in four previous attempts. Third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4.
• Petra Kvitova's new year began with a withdrawal from the Shenzhen Open due to illness on Tuesday after losing the first set against China's Zheng Saisai. Saisai was leading 6-2 in the first round match when the second-seeded Kvitova withdrew. Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska made short work of Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic, winning 6-4, 6-3. She will meet Zhang Shuai in the second round after the wildcard entrant defeated Irina Khromacheva 6-3, 6-3. British No. 1 Johanna Konta also made an early exit, losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Qiang, while Eugenie Bouchard of Canada survived a scare before beating Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Nicole Gibbs and Vania King of the United States also advanced to the second round, along with Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
• Vasek Pospisil of Canada was the only seed not to reach the second round of the Chennai Open in Chennai, India, when he lost to Aljaz Bedene of Britain 7-5, 7-6 (6) on Tuesday. Pospisil, seeded seventh, beat Bedene just over two months ago indoors in Valencia, but the closely ranked pair virtually went point for point outdoors in Chennai. Bedene earned the only break. He was runner-up here last year as a Slovene, and returns as a Brit after becoming a citizen last March. The other two seeds in action, No. 5 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain and No. 6 Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, won three-setters. Russian teen Andrey Rublev, a wild card, beat local qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for a shot at two-time defending champion Stan Wawrinka. Also the top seed, Wawrinka is aiming for a fourth Chennai title. Second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa also learned of his next opponent, 248th-ranked wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan, who beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-2, 6-0 for his second career win on the ATP Tour.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Allen moving to Houston
Kyle Allen didn't go far after leaving Texas A&M. The highly touted quarterback is enrolling at Houston, where the 14th-ranked Cougars just wrapped up a 13-1 season under first-year Coach Tom Herman. Allen spent two seasons with the Aggies, who have also seen quarterback Kyler Murray transfer and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital depart in recent weeks. Allen will sit out next year under NCAA transfer rules but will have two seasons of eligibility remaining beginning in 2017. Allen started the first seven games this past season before struggling with interceptions and was benched after a loss at Mississippi. Murray started the next three games and led the Aggies to two victories, but Allen got his job back for Texas A&M's final two games. With Allen leaving and Murray set to enroll at Oklahoma, Jake Hubenak started at quarterback as the Aggies lost the Music City Bowl 27-21 to Louisville last month. Allen threw for 2,210 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. The native of Scottsdale, Ariz., became just the eighth quarterback in Texas A&M history to pass for 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns in a season.
SOCCER
Nine-year ban suggested
The investigator for FIFA's independent ethics committee on Tuesday recommended a nine-year ban for the organization's former secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, who served as Sepp Blatter's top deputy for nearly a decade before he was placed on leave in September amid a corruption inquiry. The investigator, Cornel Borbély, also recommended that Valcke's provisional suspension, which was to expire Tuesday, be extended by 45 days, as well as a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs (about $99,000). The judge of the ethics committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert, will issue a final ruling on the recommended punishment. Valcke, 55, has been on disciplinary leave from FIFA since September, when he was accused of being involved in a scheme to sell 2014 World Cup tickets for personal profit. He was suspended provisionally in October, along with Blatter, because of "the suspicion of misuse of expenses and other infringements." Valcke has denied wrongdoing.
BASEBALL
LHP Ramos signed
The Texas Rangers have signed left-hander Cesar Ramos to a minor league contract with plans to convert the 31-year-old reliever back into a starter. Ramos had a career-high 65 relief appearances with the Los Angeles Angels last season, going 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA. He has 10 career major league starts, mostly recently with Tampa Bay in 2014. A supplemental first-round pick by San Diego in 2005, Ramos is 7-12 with a 3.70 ERA in 251 career appearances. He was mostly a starter in the minor leagues before debuting in the majors in 2009. Ramos, whose signing was announced Tuesday, will be in big league camp with the AL West champions in spring training.
• Adding veteran depth to the pitching staff has been the Miami Marlins' primary offseason objective, and they are close to a deal to achieve that at a bargain price. The Marlins have an agreement pending a physical with right-hander Edwin Jackson, sources close to the team confirmed Tuesday, that will only cost the major league minimum. The Chicago Cubs will pay most of the $13 million owed to Jackson in the final season of a four-year, $50 million contract. Jackson was a disappointment with the Cubs, going 14-33 in two seasons as a starter before being demoted to the bullpen in 2015 until he was released in July. Jackson, 32, will have a chance to attempt to resurrect his career in Miami while giving the Marlins a low-risk option for the rotation that could pay dividends in allowing time for young prospects such as Justin Nicolino and Adam Conley to continue development in the minor leagues.
HOCKEY
Juniors win bronze
Anders Bjork, Matthew Tkachuk and Ryan Donato each scored two goals and the United States defeated Sweden 8-3 on Tuesday to win bronze at the world junior hockey championship at Helsinki. Bjork and Tkachuk gave the Americans a two-goal lead, but Sweden pulled even before the end of the opening period on goals by William Lagesson and Carl Grundstrom. The U.S. pulled away with a four-goal second period as Brock Boeser, Donato, Brandon Carlo and Bjork scored. Donato and Tkachuk added goals in the third period. Axel Holmstrom had the other goal for the Swedes, who outshot the Americans 38-29. Russia was scheduled to play host Finland in the championship game later in the day.
MOTOR SPORTS
Grubb returning to Hendrick
Darian Grubb is returning to Hendrick Motorsports as the team's vehicle production director. Grubb, who was with Hendrick in a variety of roles from 2003-08, was most recently at Joe Gibbs Racing, where he served as Carl Edwards' crew chief last season. Grubb had been at JGR for since 2012, but wasn't included in a recent reorganization of the team's crew chiefs. Grubb, 40, had most of his success as a crew chief with Tony Stewart, with whom he won the 2011 Cup championship. Grubb's job as vehicle production director is a newly created position. According to a statement by Hendrick Motorsports, he will support and grow the company's overall car development capabilities while collaborating across vehicle engineering, vehicle production and four Sprint Cup teams.
Sports on 01/06/2016