Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — TENNIS

Djokovic wins Key Biscayne

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic won his third Sony Ericsson Open title Sunday, holding every service game to beat Andy Murray 6-1,7-6 (4) in Key Biscayne, Fla. Djokovic improved to 20-2 this year and 90-8 since the start of 2011. He didn’t lose a set in six rounds at Key Biscayne. “I’m playing at the peak of my form ... the best tennis that I have played,” Djokovic said. “I have to use that as much as I can.” He also won the tournament in 2007 and last year. Only six-time champion Andre Agassi has more men’s titles at Key Biscayne. It was Djokovic’s first championship since he won the Australian Open in January for his fifth Grand Slam title and third in a row. Now begins the clay season culminating with the French Open, the only major Djokovic has yet to win. “This is very encouraging for me prior to the clay-court season,” he said. “I’m going to have more confidence.” The lone break point Djokovic faced in the final came in the fifth game, and he erased that. He lost only one service point in the tiebreaker, went ahead to stay when Murray double-faulted to make it 3-2, and closed out the victory when the Scotsman sailed his final forehand long. “I managed to play my best tennis when I needed to,” Djokovic said. The No. 4-seeded Murray needed only three matches to reach the last round. He advanced twice because of walkovers and was playing for the first time since Wednesday, which may have explained his slow start. “Maybe it took a few games to get used to the pace,” Murray said. The lopsided early score was a bit misleading, but Djokovic won the pivotal points and hit an ace to close out the 47-minute first set.

BASKETBALL

Ray hired at Mississippi St.

Mississippi State hired Clemson assistant Rick Ray to be its next men’s basketball coach. The university announced Ray’s hiring Sunday and scheduled a news conference for today. Ray, 40, has been the top assistant at Clemson for the past two seasons. The Tigers won 22 games and went to the NCAA Tournament in 2011. He also spent four years as an assistant at Purdue under Matt Painter, where the Boilermakers made the NCAA Tournament every season - including two Sweet 16 appearances. Ray also spent seven seasons at Indiana State and two seasons at Northern Illinois. Ray replaces Rick Stansbury, who announced his retirement in March after 14 seasons leading the program. The details of Ray’s contract were not immediately released. Stansbury was making nearly $1.5 million per year. Mississippi State Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said in a statement that Ray fit the model he wanted as a head coach. Ray is also the first black head men’s basketball coach at the school. “He is bright, enthusiastic, disciplined and is a man of integrity,” Stricklin said. “He has served with some of the top head and assistant coaches in college basketball and will bring a piece of all of them to our head coaching position.” Ray inherits a Mississippi State program that’s had several defections after finishing a disappointing 21-12 season that ended in the first round of the NIT. Juniors Renardo Sidney and Arnett Moultrie left the program to pursue professional careers while freshman DeVille Smith left to transfer to another program. The Bulldogs’ key returning player is Rodney Hood, who averaged 10.3points and 4.8 rebounds as a freshman.

FOOTBALL

Source: Lawyer hired

The NFL Players Association has told players involved in the New Orleans Saints’ bounty case there’s a chance they could face criminal charges and it has hired outside counsel. While Commissioner Roger Goodell weighs how to punish players the league says might be connected to the bounties, the NFLPA also has suggested that players have a lawyer and union representative present when they’re interviewed by NFL investigators. The union plans to head to New York this week to meet with league security staff and review additional evidence, taking up the NFL on an offer it made more than once. An NFL spokesman said the league expects to hold hearings this week on appeals filed in connection with the investigation of the Saints’ bounty system. Coach Sean Payton is appealing his season-long suspension.General Manager Mickey Loomis is appealing his eight-game suspension, assistant head coach Joe Vitt is appealing his six-game suspension and the team is appealing its $500,000 fine and loss of second round draft picks in 2012 and 2013. ESPN reported Sunday Payton and Loomis would meet with the commissioner on Tuesday.

SOCCER

U.S., Japan women draw

Alex Morgan scored in the 72nd minute to give the United States a1-1 draw with Japan on Sunday in Sendai, Japan, the team the Americans lost to in the final of the Women’s World Cup last year. Yukari Kinga beat goalkeeper Hope Solo from close in to give Japan a1-0 lead in the 32nd minute of the Kirin Cup match. The exhibition tournament features three of the top four teams in the world. The U.S. is ranked No. 1 just ahead of Germany, while Japan is No. 3. The other team competing for the title, Brazil, is No. 4. Until the World Cup, the Americans had never lost to Japan. “This was a very important game for us,” U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage said. “I’m very happy we had the chance to play against one of the best teams in the world, Japan, to prepare for the Olympics.” Sundhage said the game showed the team still has a lot of building to do. “It was way too defensive in the first half,” Sundhage said. “We didn’t look as good as we did in the World Cup.” The U.S. plays Brazil on Tuesday.

MOTOR SPORTS

Power wins in Alabama

Will Power surged from the pack to win his second consecutive Indy Grand Prix of Alabama,once again holding off Scott Dixon. Power started ninth, but took the lead on a late caution and pulled back in front of Dixon on the double-file restart with 16 laps left Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. It was the second consecutive victory for Chevrolet and Team Penske, which is also 3 for 3 in the Alabama race. Power and Dixon pulled away from the field for a 1-2 finish, just like a year ago. St. Petersburg winner and pole-sitter Helio Castroneves of Penske edged Graham Rahal for third. “We started on black tires when everybody started on red, and then went to red when everyone was on black,” Power said. “It was a very good team effort, an absolute team effort to put ourselves in position to win, which I did not think was possible this morning.”