Briefs | Tennis: Federer, Roddick lose Masters Cup matches

Tennis

Federer loses to start Masters Cup defense: It wasn't hard for Roger Federer to find a silver lining in his Masters Cup loss Monday in Shanghai, China.

The aching back that forced the Swiss superstar to withdraw from the Paris Masters on Oct. 31 was fine, and he still has a chance to win the season-ending event for eight elite players on the ATP Tour.

"I'm definitely in a more positive mind-set today, just because my back feels good," the second-ranked Federer said after losing to Gilles Simon of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in round-robin play.

In the other Red Group match, Andy Murray of Britain survived a second-set lapse to beat American Andy Roddick 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who won their first matches in the Gold Group, play each other after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina meet in an earlier match.

Nadal to miss Davis Cup final because of knee injury: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal will miss Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina because of tendinitis in his right knee.

"The knee said no," said Nadal, who is expected to miss from three to six weeks.

The Davis Cup final starts Nov. 21 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

College basketball

No. 8 Duke routs Presbyterian: Kyle Singler scored 12 of his 19 points during the decisive first half, and No. 8 Duke opened its season by routing Presbyterian 80-49 in the first round of the 2K Sports Classic.

Singler, a sophomore forward from Medford, Ore., added 10 rebounds for the host Blue Devils, who face Georgia Southern tonight with a semifinal berth at Madison Square Garden in New York on the line.

Duke has won 60 nonconference games in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Blue Devils improved to 27-2 in home openers under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Tennessee's West is ineligible: Freshman point guard Daniel West has been determined academically ineligible to play for No. 14 Tennessee this season, coach Bruce Pearl said.

"The frustration is, he passed many checks and balances and was in summer school and did very well," Pearl said. "To get the rug pulled out from underneath you is certainly disappointing."

Hockey

Hall of Fame adds four members: Ex-NHL players Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson, linesman Ray Scapinello and late junior-hockey builder Ed Chynoweth were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Chynoweth, who died in April, was president of the Western Hockey League for all but one season from 1972 to 1996.

Golf

Dye is in Hall class: Pete Dye, who has designed more than 200 courses with risk-and-reward options that brought pleasure to some and frustration to most, was among six people inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla.

Others in the 2008 class are pro players Craig Wood, Denny Shute and Bob Charles; amateur player Carole Semple Thompson; and author Herbert Warren Wind.

They brought membership in the Hall of Fame to 126.

Course architect Dye, a former insurance salesman selected through the Lifetime Achievement category, dismissed his career as digging up other people's property.

Auto racing

Switch from NASCAR event hurts ABC's ratings: ABC television's overnight ratings plunged 18 percent after it cut away from the closing laps of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Arizona to air "America's Funniest Home Videos" in the Eastern and Central time zones.

ABC stayed with the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, won by Jimmie Johnson, in the West.

ABC had a 4.6 overnight rating for the last 30 minutes it broadcast the race in all markets. After the network switched the final 34 minutes of the race broadcast to its ESPN2 affiliate in the Eastern and Central time zones, ABC's rating dropped to 3.8 for the next half-hour.

Boxing

Holyfield to fight for WBA title: American Evander Holyfield, 46, will fight WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev of Russia in a Dec. 20 title bout in Zurich, Switzerland.

The 7-foot Valuev (49-1) is likely to be favored over Holyfield (42-9-2).

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