Nadal, Federer among winners in Australia
MELBOURNE, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer each had decisive straight-set wins Monday during opening-day play at the Australian Open.
Nadal, the world's No. 2-ranked player, took out Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 without dropping serve. Nadal won nearly 80 percent of the points on serve and took 52 percent when receiving.
Federer, seeded third, lost his serve once but prevailed 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 over Alexander Kudryavtsev. Federer took more than 70 percent of the points on serve. His lone break came in the third set.
Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych got by Albert Ramos 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Mardy Fish, the No. 8 seed, swept past Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Nicolas Almagro, the No. 10 seed, overcame a slow start for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 win over Lukasz Kubot and No. 11 Juan Martin del Potro topped Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4; 13th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov came from two sets down for a 1-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Greg Jones and 16th-seeded John Isner eliminated Benjamin Mitchell 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).
Four seeded players were out Monday. Australia's Bernard Tomic ousted No. 22 Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-5; Philipp Kohlschreiber dominated the fifth set of a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0 win over 25th-seeded Juan Monaco; and Lukas Lacko rallied for a 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 upset of 28th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic. Also Ivo Karlovic knocked out 31st-seeded Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-3.
Other seeded players moving into the second round with wins Monday were No. 18 Feliciano Lopez, 21st-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka and No. 30 Kevin Anderson.
Wozniacki wins in Australian first round
MELBOURNE, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki had just 12 unforced errors Monday in an opening-round, straight-set victory over Anastasia Rodionova at the Australian Open.
Wozniacki beat Rodionova 6-2, 6-1, saving all three of the break points she faced. She claimed 65 percent of the points on serve. Her big advantage was on Rodionova's second serve. Wozniacki won 15-of-21 points in those situations.
Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka was even more impressive, taking out Heather Watson 6-1, 6-0 in 67 minutes. Azarenka finished off six of her 10 break-point chances.
No. 5-seeded Li Na defeated Ksenia Pervak 6-3, 6-1 and eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska escaped a challenge from Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-2.
Tenth-seeded Francesca Schiavone was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Laura Pous-Tio and Kim Clijsters, the 11th seed, opened defense of her Australian Open title with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Maria Joao Koehler. No. 13 Jelena Jankovic advanced with a 6-2, 6-0 rout of Laura Robson and 16th-seeded Peng Shuai beat Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-4.
Three seeded women's players dropped opening-day matches. Qualifier Nina Bratchikova ousted 19th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 1-6, 6-2; Christina McHale eliminated 24th-seeded Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-4; and Galina Voskoboeva was a 7-5, 6-2 winner over 28th-seeded Yanina Wickmayer.
Other seeded players winning Monday were No. 20 Daniela Hantuchova, 22nd-seeded Julia Goerges, No. 26 Anabel Medina Garrigues, 31st-seeded Monica Niculescu and
No. 32 Petra Cetkovska.
Syracuse unanimous No. 1 in coaches' poll
MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Syracuse won over a last holdout and is the unanimous choice as No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches basketball poll.
The Orange (19-0) had been one second-place vote short of unanimity for four weeks before getting all 39 first-place mentions Monday.
Kentucky (17-1), which has been getting that last first-place vote, lost it and is two points short of receiving all the second-place votes.
After a week in which nine ranked teams suffered losses -- including internecine defeats in the Big 10 by Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan -- the had saw 11 teams change position by at least four places and two fall out.
Baylor (17-0) improves its ranking to No. 3 heading into games this week at Kansas and against Missouri. The Tigers (16-1) are up four to fifth and Kansas (14-3) goes from 10th to seventh.
Duke (15-2) is third and Ohio State (16-3) is at No. 6 while North Carolina (15-3) slips fives spots to eighth ahead of No. 9 Michigan State (15-3) and Murray State (18-0), which improves four places to 10th.
Connecticut (14-3) jumps from No. 16 to 11th but Georgetown (14-3) is down one to No. 12 and Indiana (15-3) falls from eighth to 13th.
Florida (14-4) and Mississippi State (15-3) both climb five rungs to Nos. 14 and 15, respectively.
San Diego State (15-2), 22nd a week ago, comes in at 16th while Virginia (14-2) holds steady at 17th. Creighton (16-2) is 18th after a week at No. 21. Michigan (14-4) drops six spots to 19th and Nevada-Las Vegas (16-3) goes from 12th to No. 20.
Louisville (14-4) is 21st, down six places while Marquette (14-4) is 22nd and St. Mary's (Calif.) (17-2), Harvard (15-2) and Illinois (15-3), in order, complete the Top 25.
U.S. announces men's basketball finalists
COLORADO SPRINGS, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and five others from the 2008 Olympic gold-medal team are among finalists for the 2012 U.S. men's basketball team.
USA Basketball on Monday released the names of the 20 finalists to make the men's basketball team for the Olympics this summer in London.
U.S. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has guided the U.S. team to a 58-1 record since 2006, will announce the final 12-man roster later this year.
"The selected finalists are a very, very talented group; the depth of the talent is extraordinary," said USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo. "This selection decision was as difficult of a challenge as I've faced since I took on the USA National Team program in 2005."
James, Wade and Bosh are NBA teammates for the Miami Heat.
The other finalists are: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland), Carmelo Anthony (New York), Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers), Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Tyson Chandler (New York), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City), Rudy Gay (Memphis), Eric Gordon (New Orleans), Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers), Dwight Howard (Orlando), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia), Kevin Love (Minnesota), Lamar Odom (Dallas), Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers), Derrick Rose (Chicago), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City) and Deron Williams (New Jersey).
Along with Bosh, James and Wade, Anthony, Bryant, Howard, Paul and Williams helped the United States to the Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Another 10 of the finalists were on the 2010 world championship winning team.
