Briefs | NBA: Beasley photos create controversy

NBA

Witnesses say Heat forward wasn't drinking: While Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley tries to find his niche on and off the court, the 20-year-old once again found himself in the middle of an awkward situation that apparently was taken out of context by entertainment Web site TMZ.com.

Photos of Beasley apparently sleeping next to a woman and a table of open beer bottles aboard a Heat-arranged fishing charter Oct. 10 have hit the Internet. Witnesses, including the captain of the boat, said Beasley did not drink any alcohol and was exhausted after a tough practice session.

Beasley is not facing disciplinary action and is said not to be in danger of facing a third-strike suspension for violating any league-related substance-abuse policy.

"[It was] the fishing trip gone bad or my bad, because it was after practice and I was tired," Beasley said after Saturday's practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. "That sun was beaming down; it was the hottest day in the world. ... Fell asleep ain't the word.

"I don't drink. I don't smoke anymore. My sobriety date is 8-6-09."

Heat officials believed it would be an alcohol-free day cruise and knew Beasley would be accompanied by a team staffer and Ron Pearson, his counselor and friend from the Houston drug and alcohol rehabilitation center where he spent more than a month earlier this summer.

Apparently, someone took Beasley's photo and put it on a Facebook page. From there, it spread to TMZ and other sites.

"At no point did Michael consume or even touch any alcohol," Taft Sibley, the boat's captain, wrote in an e-mail to the team.

Tennis

Kremlin Cup matchups set: Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia will play Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Francesca Schiavone of Italy will meet Olga Govortsova of Belarus in finals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Tipsarevic advanced to his first ATP final by beating Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-4 and Youzhny defeated Kazakh qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-1.

Schiavone defeated Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-0 and Govortsova ousted Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 6-2, 6-1.

Soderling injures elbow: Top-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden withdrew from the Stockholm Open semifinals because of an elbow injury, allowing Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus to advance to today's final against Olivier Rochus of Belgium.

Rochus outlasted Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3.

Soderling, who has been bothered by a sore right elbow since July, said, "I had an MRI Tuesday and they told me that I have to rest two, three weeks to get well."

Track and field

Former coach Graham denies wrongdoing: Speaking at length about doping issues for the first time since the 2004 Olympics, former coach Trevor Graham told The New York Times: "I didn't do anything wrong."

The former coach of tainted runners Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery had not talked to media about doping since he identified himself as the person who had anonymously sent to antidoping authorities a syringe with an undetectable steroid called "the clear."

Graham, 46, was convicted last year of making false statements to a federal agent and served a year of home confinement.

Mixed martial arts

Machida keeps title: Lyoto Machida retained his light-heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in a matchup of Brazilians at UFC 104 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Horse racing

Vineyard Haven takes Grade I De Francis at Laurel: Vineyard Haven, a 3-year-old colt trained by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Alan Garcia, beat Ravalo by a half-length in the Grade I Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel in Maryland.

Vineyard Haven ran 6 furlongs on a sloppy track in 1 minute, 9.62 seconds and paid $3.60 to win.

Each of the seven horses finishing behind Vineyard Haven in the $300,000 race is at least 4 years old.

Seattle Times news services