Off the wire

TENNIS

Federer rallies

Roger Federer saved five match points and rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker before finally beating Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7) in a thrilling second-round match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday. Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, lost to fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (6) only days after appendicitis left him bedridden and uncertain if he'd be able to compete. Federer hadn't played since helping Switzerland beat Italy to make the Davis Cup final a month ago, and the inactivity showed. He made an uncharacteristic 57 unforced errors -- including some bad mishits -- and only won about half of his points at the net. The Swiss star also was a little fortunate. On Mayer's first match point at 5-4 in the third, the Argentine aimed a backhand passing shot down the line but the ball clipped the tape and fell back on his side of the net. Federer finally put it away on his first match point with a backhand lob that just caught the line. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic also moved into the third round with victories. Murray defeated Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 7-5, 6-2. He next faces David Ferrer, another player fighting for a spot in the elite eight-man field. Ferrer rallied to beat Martin Klizan 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Djokovic extended his unbeaten streak in China to 26 consecutive matches with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Dominic Thiem of Austria, at 21, the youngest player in the top 50. Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka were among a number of seeds to be knocked out.

Varvara Lepchenko and Alison Riske set up an all-American quarterfinal match at the Tianjin Open with straight-set victories on Wednesday. The fourth-seeded Lepchenko defeated 18-year-old Chinese wild-card entry Liu Fangzhou 7-6 (3), 7-5, while the sixth-seeded Riske beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-4, 7-6 (3). Also, Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-0, and Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia defeated Tianjin native Duan Ying-ying 6-4, 6-4. Jelena Jankovic is the top-seeded player at the tournament, one of three events added to the WTA Tour calendar in China this year. She plays her second-round match against Zheng Saisai today.

• American teenager Madison Keys reached the quarterfinals of the Japan Women's Open at Osaka with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Misaki Doi on Wednesday. The second-seeded Keys was broken twice in the second set but still managed to win. Keys, 19, next faces Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand. Kumkhum beat Eri Hozumi 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Heather Watson of Britain, the champion two years ago, lost to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 7-5, while third-seeded Elina Sviotlina of Ukraine defeated Japanese wild-card entry Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

BASEBALL

Front office shake up

Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd and senior vice president Bill Geivett are leaving the front office after the team turned in a fourth consecutive losing season. Jeff Bridich is taking over as the new GM. O'Dowd spent 15 seasons in charge of the Rockies, the highlight of which was an appearance in the 2007 World Series, where the team was swept by Boston. His power dwindled in recent years with the rise of Geivett, who was promoted to senior vice present of baseball operations in August 2012. He had an office next to Manager Walt Weiss in the clubhouse. The Rockies finished 66-96 and 28 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Bridich has been the team's senior director of player development since 2011.

• Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett, facing surgery for a torn labrum in his left hip that caused him to miss most of the last three months of the season, has retired at 34, ending a 14-year career that included two World Series championships. He threw a no-hitter in May, but landed on the disabled list for the third time in early August with a left hip impingement after being on the DL in July for the same injury. He was 6-6 with a 2.88 ERA in 20 starts, including the no-hitter May 25 at Philadelphia. Beckett's first time on the DL was in March, when he had a bruised right thumb. He announced his decision to retire in St. Louis after the Dodgers were eliminated in the National League Division Series on Tuesday night, according to MLB.com.

BASKETBALL

Pippen to testify

Former Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen is expected to take the witness stand at the federal trial of his one-time investment adviser. Prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Chicago say the six-time NBA champion (Hamburg, Central Arkansas) will testify briefly at the bank fraud trial of Robert Lunn. Lunn has denied trying to defraud clients and Oak Brook-based Leaders Bank of more than $3.2 million. Pippen, 49, successfully sued Lunn after the basketball star lost money in questionable investments, including an airplane. Pippen won a $12 million judgment against Lunn in 2004. Each count of bank fraud Lunn faces at his current trial carries a maximum 30-year prison term and $1 million fine. If there's a conviction, restitution also will be mandatory.

• The NBA fined Joakim Noah and Paul Pierce $15,000 apiece for their roles in an altercation during Monday's preseason opener at the United Center. Additionally, four Wizards drew a one-game suspension for leaving the bench area and will miss Washington's regular-season opener. Nene, DeJuan Blair, Daniel Orton and Xavier Silas will be forced to sit out since the ensuing stoppage as officials reviewed a foul call on Pierce wasn't an official timeout. Leaving the bench area is an automatic one-game suspension. Pierce, apparently frustrated by a non-call on the offensive end, fouled Jimmy Butler hard in the open court and then started jawing with Noah in front of the Bulls' bench as officials reviewed the play. Tom Thibodeau, who coached Pierce in Boston, tried to play peacemaker but Noah shoved Pierce in the chest and Pierce poked Noah in the forehead. The situation escalated and players had to be restrained. The four Wizards crossed halfcourt from their bench. Rod Thorn, the NBA's president of basketball operations, made the ruling.

HORSE RACING

Cigar, two-time Horse of Year, dead

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Cigar, the two-time Horse of the Year whose 16-race winning streak matched one of racing’s greatest achievements, has died. He was 24.

A release from Kentucky Horse Park said Cigar died Tuesday night at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital from complications following surgery for severe osteoarthritis in his neck. Cigar won 19 of 33 starts and earned nearly $10 million but was best known for his incredible run of victories that made him the first horse to tie the record set by the legendary Citation.

An allowance victory at Aqueduct in October 1994 began the Maryland-bred’s famed run that included 1995 victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pimlico Special. He was Horse of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

Jockey Jerry Bailey was aboard Cigar for the final 15 in the streak.

“He was the best of his generation and certainly the best horse I ever rode,” Bailey said Wednesday.

Cigar was retired in 1999 and enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2002.

Although Cigar didn’t have the name recognition of other horses that ran in Triple Crown races, his winning streak helped generate interest in the sport even among casual fans. Tens of thousands attended the tracks when he was scheduled to race. The product of a mating of Palace Music and Solar Slew — a mare by Seattle Slew — Cigar was foaled April 18, 1990, at Country Life Farm near Bel Air, Md. He did not race until his 3-year-old season, winning just 2 of 9 races that year for trainer Alex Hassinger.

Cigar, who had been based in California, went east as a 4-year-old and was trained by Bill Mott. Cigar had only sporadic success racing on turf, so Mott switched him back to dirt racing, and the horse responded by winning an allowance race at Aqueduct by eight lengths.

Thus began a winning streak that matched the record held by Citation. Cigar’s streak covered races at nine tracks in seven states — which included winning the Oaklawn Handicap in 1995 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs — and one foreign country.

Sports on 10/09/2014

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