Rodriguez leads AL All-Star voting
NEW YORK, June 19 (UPI) -- New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez leads all American League players in voting for the AL team for next month's All-Star Game in San Francisco.
Rodriguez, the Yankees' third baseman who leads the major leagues with 27 home runs, had 1,914,162 votes in figures released Tuesday by Major League Baseball. Second on the list is Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter with 1,591,453 votes.
Boston first baseman David Ortiz leads at his position with 1,423,064. Detroit's Placido Polanco leads the vote-getters at second base while the Tigers Ivan Rodriguez is first among catchers.
The top three outfielders as of Tuesday were the Angels; Vladimir Guerrero (1,541,241), Boston's Manny Ramirez (1,098,497) and Seattle Ichiro Suzuki (1,048,781).
Voting at stadiums continues through Friday but online balloting continues through June 28 at mlb.com.
The 78th All-Star Game is set for July 10.
Anti-doping pledge introduced by cyclists
GENEVA, Switzerland, June 19 (UPI) -- The International Cycling Union will ask riders sign to a declaration that they aren't using performance-enhancing drugs in this year's Tour de France.
Cycling has been sullied by a series of admissions to doping in recent weeks by top riders, including 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis. The victory in last year's premier cycling event by American Floyd Landis has also been questioned by doping allegations.
The UCI announced its "Riders' Commitment to a New Cycling" at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday. Cyclists Mark Cavendish and Sandy Casar signed the pledge at the news conference.
Cyclists cannot be forced to sign the document but those who do will have their names published on the UCI Web site.
By signing, cyclists confirm they aren't using performance-enhancing drugs and were not part of the May 2006 "Operation Puerto" scandal that implicated 58 cyclists.
If, after signing the declaration, a cyclist is found in violation of doping rules, he would be banned for two years and fined an amount equal to their 2007 salary, the UCI said.
The Tour de France runs July 7-29.
Robredo wins, four seeds lose at Ordina
'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands, June 19 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Tommy Robredo was a straight-set winner but four seeded players were upset in the first round of the $416,000 Ordina Open in The Netherlands.
The tournament is a final grass-court tune-up ahead of Wimbledon, which begins next week.
Robredo defeated Michael Koning, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), to advance to Wednesday's second-round play.
Also Tuesday, third-seeded Guillermo Canas posted a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 victory over Ernests Gulbis.
However, the fifth- through eighth-seeded players were all ousted Tuesday. No. 5 Juan Carlos Ferrero was dumped by Carlos Berlocq, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; sixth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela lost to Julien Benneteau, 6-4, 6-4; No. 7 Philipp Kohlschreiber retired after losing the first set to Sergio Roitman, 6-2, and eight-seeded Marc Gicquel lost, 6-4, 6-2, to Janko Tipsarevic.
Ivanovic makes Ordina quarterfinals
'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands, June 19 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic was a second-round winner Tuesday at the $175,000 Ordina Open grass-court tennis tournament in The Netherlands.
Ivanovic, the runner-up at the French Open, was given a second-round match on the quarterfinals of the tournament when many other players were wrapping up first-round play. She advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over Eleni Daniilidou. Third-seeded Anna Chakvetadze moved beyond the second round Tuesday, beating Francesca Schiavone, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Also advancing into the quarterfinals were eighth-seeded Alona Bondarenko and Flavia Pennetta. Bondarenko topped Roberta Vinci, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, and Pennetta handled Tatjana Malek, 6-0, 6-4.
In first-round play, No. 4-seeded Dinara Safina, a finalist last year, defeated Camille Pin, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, and earned a second-round spot against defending champion Michaella Krajicek.
Fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova posted an easy first-round win over Olga Poutchkova, 6-2, 6-1, in a first-round match Tuesday.
