Briefs | Tennis: Spain leads 2-1 in best-of-5 Davis Cup final

Tennis

Lopez, Verdasco combine for doubles victory: Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco sent a chill through Argentine tennis Saturday, winning their doubles match to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Davis Cup final in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Lopez and Verdasco defeated David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, boosting Spain's hopes of winning the Davis Cup despite the absence of injured Rafael Nadal, the top-ranked player in the world.

Argentina's leading player, Juan Martin del Potro, might not be able to play reverse singles today because of a leg injury.

"This was an important victory; it gives us life," Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario said. "We need one more game."

Today's schedule has del Potro meeting David Ferrer and Nalbandian playing Lopez. On Friday, Nalbandian defeated Ferrer in straight sets and del Potro fell to Lopez in four sets.

Connors is arrested: Jimmy Connors, a winner of eight major singles titles, was arrested outside the arena where UC Santa Barbara was hosting top-ranked North Carolina in basketball.

Connors was taken into custody Friday night when he refused to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome after a confrontation, police Sgt. Dan Massey said in a statement. A police dispatcher said Connors, a former No. 1 player in the world, was arrested at the beginning of the game.

A Santa Barbara County jail employee said Connors, 56, was booked and released but did not have details.

NHL

Demitra scores twice as Vancouver wins 3-1 in Pittsburgh: Pavol Demitra scored twice, twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin had three points each and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 for their third consecutive victory on the road.

But All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo of the Canucks injured his groin at 4:45 of the first period and didn't return. He is to have magnetic resonance imaging today.

"I don't know if it happened when I was extending or as I was trying to react to the deflection [of a shot] — it was pretty much a lot of pain at that point," Luongo said.

Curtis Sanford replaced Luongo and stopped 17 of 18 shots. The Northwest Division-leading Canucks are 7-0-2 in their last nine games.

"They worked harder than us and deserved to win," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said of the Canucks.

Auto racing

Runner-up finishes don't thrill Edwards: Driver Carl Edwards and second place are not a good fit.

"The only thing about second is, it's better than third. That's really all you can say," the runner-up in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup series said.

Jimmie Johnson won the top-level Sprint Cup championship and Clint Bowyer took the Nationwide title.

"We didn't mess up," Edwards said. "Jimmie just was perfect ... By most measures [our year] was great, but we set out this season to win two championships and we came up a little bit short."

Boxing

Hatton stops Malignaggi in 11th round: Ricky Hatton of Britain stopped Paulie Malignaggi of New York 28 seconds into the 11th round of a matchup of 140-pounders in Las Vegas.

Hatton (45-1) stunned Malignaggi (25-2) in the second round and remained in control. The bout ended when Buddy McGirt, Malignaggi's trainer, stepped into the ring to spare his fighter from any further damage.

Hatton, a 2-1 favorite, earned $2.5 million and Malignaggi made $1 million.

Garay prevails: Hugo Hernan Garay of Argentina successfully defended his WBA light-heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over German Juergen Braehmer in Rostock, Germany.

The judges scored the fight 118-110, 117-112 and 116-115.

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