Tennis: U.S. takes 2-0 lead over France in Fed Cup | Briefs

Tennis

Oudin, Mattek-Sands give U.S. 2-0 lead in Fed Cup: Melanie Oudin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the opening singles Saturday to give the United States a 2-0 lead against France in the quarterfinals of the Fed Cup in Lievin, France.

Oudin defeated Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4 after Mattek-Sands outlasted Alize Cornet 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 in the first match.

Cilic, Berrer reach final of Zagreb Indoors: Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia beat third-seeded Juergen Melzer of Austria 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 to reach the Zagreb Indoors final in Croatia.

He will play Michael Berrer, who beat fellow German Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 to reach his first ATP Tour final.

Lopez, Robert advance to final: Feliciano Lopez of Spain and Stephane Robert of France advanced to the final of the SA Open after eliminating the two highest-seeded players in Johannesburg. Lopez upset top-seeded Gael Monfils of France 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), while Robert ousted second-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 6-4.

Sailing

Ellison a no-show at America's Cup event: The hostility between America's Cup rivals was apparent after BMW Oracle president Larry Ellison refused to attend an owners' news conference with Alinghi counterpart Ernesto Bertarelli in Valencia, Spain.

The two syndicates have been battling in the courtroom over the 33rd edition of the sailing classic since July 2007. Ellison said he did not appear because his chief executive Russell Coutts was excluded.

The America's Cup is scheduled to begin Monday.

Soccer

Altidore gets first Premier League goal: U.S. forward Jozy Altidore scored his first Premier League goal in helping relegation-threatened Hull upset big-spending Manchester City 2-1.

Track and field

Lagat sets American indoor record for 5,000 meters: Bernard Lagat, a former Washington State runner, shattered the American record in the indoor 5,000 meters at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games.

Lagat's time of 13 minutes, 11.50 seconds beat the previous mark by almost seven seconds.

Mixed-martial arts

Couture stops Coleman: Five-time champion Randy Couture stopped Mark Coleman with a rear naked choke to win a bout between two UFC hall-of-famers in their mid-40s in Las Vegas.

Snowboarding

Kober, Prommegger win giant slaloms: Germany's Amelie Kober and Andreas Prommegger of Austria collected parallel giant-slalom victories in Sudelfeld, Germany.

Ski jumping

Schlierenzauer earns victory: Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer captured his eighth World Cup victory of the season in Willingen, Germany, winning the final individual event before the Vancouver Olympics.

Skiing

Kowalczyk, Jonsson win races: Overall leader Justyna Kowalcyzk won a 10K cross-country World Cup race in Canmore, Alberta, the last day of racing before the Winter Games. Emil Jonsson of Sweden won the men's race.

Diving

Colwill wins eighth national title: Chris Colwill of Brandon, Fla., outpointed Kristian Ipsen 1024.60-992.50 to win his first 3-meter title since 2006 at the USA Diving winter national championships in Columbus, Ohio. It was Colwill's eighth career national championship.

Haley Ishimatsu, a 17-year-old from Seal Beach, Calif., beat Amy Korthauer 721.40-677.35 to win her second women's platform title and third overall.

Seattle Times news services