TENNIS
Venus advances
Top-seeded Venus Williams had a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Taiwanese wildcard Lee Pei-chi in her opening match at the Taiwan Open on Wednesday. "It was exciting to compete against a local player -- the crowd was super-involved and made things exciting," Williams said. "The first round is never easy so I'm really happy to now be advancing and hopefully play better and better with every game." Williams broke her opponent's serve three times in the match that lasted just 57 minutes. The seven-time major winner, a surprise first-round loser at the Australian Open last month, next faces Urszula Radwanska of Poland. In second-round matches, Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia defeated fourth-seeded Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals. Third-seeded Yulia Putintseva advanced with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 victory over Japanese qualifier Miyu Kato.
• Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin upset fifth-seeded Denis Kudla 6-1, 7-5 on Wednesday in the second round of the Memphis Open. Kukushkin, ranked 93rd in the world, got off to a quick start in the opening set against Kudla, the American who entered the tournament at a career-best ranking of 59th. The second set was more competitive, but Kudla was unable to overtake Kukushkin. Kukushkin will play the winner of the night match between top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan and American Ryan Harrison. Nishikori has won the tournament the last three years. In other second-round matches, fourth-seeded Sam Querrey of the United States beat Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4, and Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka topped Ukraine's Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-3.
• Second-seeded Marin Cilic reached the World Tennis Tournament quarterfinals in Rotterdam, Netherlands, by defeating Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7) in the second round on Wednesday. Neither player faced a break point in the first set, but Muller saved five in the second. Cilic had two match points at 6-4 in the tiebreak, then saved a set point at 7-6 down as Muller fought back strongly. The 2014 U.S. Open champion next plays Philipp Kohlschreiber, who won against qualifier Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 6-2. The German proved clinical on Dodig's serve, converting four of five break-point chances, and solid on his own -- winning 75 percent of points on second serve. Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Gael Monfils of France beat Borna Coric of Croatia 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in a match littered with 22 break-point chances. Monfils served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, then lost three consecutive games. He finally served out victory to set up a match against either countryman Gilles Simon, seeded third, or German teenager Alexander Zverev -- who won their first-round matches Wednesday. In other first-round play, No. 8-seeded Viktor Troicki, Jeremy Chardy and Roberto Bautista Agut also advanced.
• Fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria reached his second quarterfinals of the young season when he defeated qualifier Gastao Elias of Portugal 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the Argentina Open at Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Thiem, the youngest player in the top 20 at age 22, prevented Elias from making his first career ATP quarters. In another second-round match in the clay-court tournament, 2011 champion Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Federico Delbonis 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, his third win over the local hope after 2012 and '13. Top-seeded Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, faces Juan Monaco of Argentina on Thursday in the second round.
MOTOR SPORTS
Source: Vickers in for Stewart
Brian Vickers will replace injured driver Tony Stewart at Daytona International Speedway, The Associated Press has learned. Stewart-Haas Racing has scheduled a Friday news conference to discuss its plans for the No. 14 Chevrolet. A person familiar with the situation told AP on Wednesday that the replacement driver will be Vickers. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team is awaiting word from NASCAR if Vickers is medically cleared to race. Vickers ran only two races last season before suffering a recurrence of blood clots. He can't compete while being treated for the clots because the blood thinners increase his risk of serious internal bleeding if he crashes. Stewart is sidelined for the start of his final NASCAR season with a fractured vertebra. He was hurt riding an all-terrain vehicle.
BASKETBALL
New WNBA president
Lisa M. Borders, a Coca-Cola executive and former president of the Atlanta City Council, was named president of the WNBA on Wednesday as the league prepares to start its 20th season in May. Despite a rising quality of play, the league faces falling attendance that hit an all-time low last season and declining regular-season viewership on ESPN. Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, voiced concerns late last season about the direction of the WNBA, particularly its marketing, telling a Sports Business Journal conference, "We thought it would have broken through by now." In a recent interview with The New York Times, he said, "I think there is a sense that we haven't done enough collectively to promote the league." Borders, who is replacing Laurel J. Richie as WNBA president, has no managerial background in sports, but was part of the organizing committee that brought the Dream franchise to Atlanta in 2007 when she was vice mayor of the city. Two years later, she ran for mayor but did not receive enough votes among six candidates to advance to a runoff election. For the last three years, she has been chairman of the Coca-Cola Foundation.
• North Carolina Hall of Fame Coach Roy Williams is expected to be at his team's next practice and game following a bout with vertigo that sidelined him for part of Tuesday's victory at Boston College. Athletics Department spokesman Steve Kirschner said Wednesday that the ninth-ranked Tar Heels had a previously scheduled day off and would return to practice today ahead of Sunday's home game against Pittsburgh. Williams' regularly scheduled Friday news conference in Chapel Hill is still on as well. Williams, 65, left Tuesday's game with about 14 minutes left after collapsing momentarily in the huddle, an attack he said can be brought on by sudden head movements. He returned from the locker room to shake hands with Eagles Coach Jim Christian and attend part of UNC's postgame news conference.
GOLF
Caddies lose lawsuit
Caddies have lost their class-action lawsuit against the PGA Tour claiming they were forced to wear bibs that made them "human billboards." The ruling came just over one year after the lawsuit, which grew to include 168 caddies, was filed in federal court in northern California. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the caddies cannot refile their complaint. Caddies have been complaining about their treatment by the tour. They went after the tour over wearing bibs, which include the logo of the corporate sponsor that week. They said they effectively were being used for advertising without compensation. Chhabria, however, found no merit. He ruled that the tour's longtime policy requiring caddies to wear bibs did not implicate federal antitrust or trademark law.
BASEBALL
Guillen takes Venezuela job
Ozzie Guillen, who led the Chicago White Sox to the 2005 World Series title, was hired Wednesday to manage the La Guaira Sharks of the Venezuelan Winter League next offseason. Guillen, 52, who was born in Ocumare del Tuy, has not had a managing job since the Miami Marlins fired him in 2012 at the end of his first season. La Guaira team President Francisco Arocha and Vice President Antonio Jose Herrera said in a statement that hiring Guillen "has been an aspiration of ours since we acquired the team in 2004." The Sharks said they considered renewing the contract of Buddy Bailey, who had managed the team for the past two seasons. "During the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic we had an opportunity to talk to Oswaldo, and both Francisco and I felt that in life there are opportunities that you can't let pass by," Herrera said. Guillen managed the White Sox from 2004-11 and was voted AL Manager of the Year in 2005, when Chicago won its first Series title since 1917.
Sports on 02/11/2016