Azarenka 14-0 in 2012 after Doha win
DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka won easily Thursday and Lucie Safarova recorded her second upset at the Qatar Total Open tennis tournament.
Safarova defeated second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in a second-round match Wednesday and took out No. 14-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 Thursday in advancing to the tournament quarterfinals.
Kuznetsova fought off five break points in the first set but Safarova was able to take the tiebreaker. Safarova notched a pair of breaks in the second set to win.
Azarenka improved to 14-0 on the year with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Simona Halep. Azarenka piled up six breaks over Halep's eight service games.
No. 3-seeded Samantha Stosur topped Petra Cetkovska 6-3, 6-2 with five breaks while fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska beat Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 6-1 and Marion Bartoli, the No. 5 seed, got by Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-3.
Also Thursday, Yanina Wickmayer was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Ksenia Pervak, Christina McHale rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision over Shahar Peer, and Monica Niculescu advanced at the expense of Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Azarenka plays Wickmayer and Radwanska goes against McHale in one half of the draw's quarterfinals while Stosur faces Niculescu and Bartoli meets Safarova in the other.
Five cities take step toward 2020 Olympics
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The international Olympic Committee said Thursday that the five cities bidding to be host sites for the 2020 Summer Olympics had submitted application files.
The files, which include an overview of each bidding city's project, is considered a key element of Phase 1 of the process to select a host site, the IOC said. Deadline for the files' submission was Wednesday.
Application files were received from Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; Istanbul, Turkey; Madrid and Tokyo. Rome had announced its intention to seek the 2020 Games but pulled out of the contest this week, citing budget concerns.
The IOC issued a released Thursday that said the files would be studied by an IOC-appointed working group. That panel will report at the IOC Executive Board's May meeting in Quebec City. The board will decide which cities move into Phase 2 of the selection process.
The host site for the 2020 Olympics is to be determined at an IOC meeting Sept. 7, 2013 in Buenos Aires.
The 2012 Olympics are to be contested in London. The 2016 games have been awarded to Rio de Janeiro.
Jones back for 3-point title defense
NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- James Jones has signed on to try to defend his 3-point shooting title during this year's NBA All-Star weekend, the league said Thursday.
Jones, a Miami Heat guard, won the 3-point title last year in Los Angeles by scoring 20 points in the final round to defeat Boston's Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in the final round. Pierce won the contest in 2010.
Competing against Jones this year will be Miami's Mario Chalmers, Atlanta Joe Jackson, Minnesota's Kevin Love, New Jersey's Anthony Morris and Orlando's Ryan Anderson.
The dunk contest will feature Indiana's Paul George, Minnesota's Derrick Williams, Houston's Chase Budinger and Iman Shumpert of the New York Knicks. Last year's champion -- Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers -- said he wouldn't participate this year.
The NBA said Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Orlando's Dwight Howard will coach the celebrity basketball game that is part of the weekend's events. Former NBA players Mitch Richmond, Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson along with 2011 WNBA most valuable player Tamika Catchings will appear in the celebrity game.
Non-basketball celebrities expected for the game include "Jersey Shore" cast member Vinny Guadagnino, Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo and "Grey's Anatomy" star Jesse Williams.
The NBA All-Star weekend celebrity game is set for Feb. 24, with the 3-point shooting and dunk contests on Feb. 25. The NBA All-Star Game will be Feb. 26 in Orlando, Fla.
Canizares, Whiteford share Euro Tour lead
NEW DELHI, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Alejandro Canizares and Peter Whiteford are at 6-under-par 66 and share the lead after Thursday's first round of the European Tour's Avantha Masters in India.
Canizares and Whiteford each had seven birdies and one bogey in the round. They have a one-stroke lead over Federico Colombo, who didn't have a bogey Thursday en route to a 5-under 67.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Jamie Donaldson, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Gregory Havret, Thongchai Jaidee, and Himmat Rai are tied for fourth at 4-under.
Canizares opened on the second nine of the DLF Golf and Country Club and used birdies at 11 and 15 in making the turn at 2-under. He had four birdies in his first six holes on the front side before a bogey at the seventh hole. A closing birdie at the par-5 ninth gave him a share of the lead.
Whiteford was 1-under after birdies at 2 and 6 and a bogey 5 at the fifth hole. He posted four consecutive birdies over Nos. 10-13 and made birdie at the 17th to get to 6-under.
