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Pennsylvania to sue NCAA

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania is preparing a lawsuit against the NCAA, challenging sanctions levied in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, sources told Sports Illustrated.

The magazine, citing "multiple sources with knowledge of the situation," reported Tuesday Penn State University, which has been working with the NCAA since the scandal, is not a party in the lawsuit.

The suit is being solely handled by the state.

"We're not prepared to say anything at this point," said Kevin Harley, Gov. Tom Corbett's spokesman.

The NCAA and the state government have been arguing over whether the $60 million fine, assessed to Penn State and dedicated to child abuse prevention, should be spent nationally or locally, the magazine said.

The harsh NCAA penalties, which also included athletic scholarship reductions and the vacating of wins by head Coach Joe Paterno, was accepted by Penn State authorities because they feared a "death sentence" from the NCAA, the total shutdown of athletic programs for one or more years, the magazine reported.

Serena Williams wins again at Brisbane

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Serena Williams had another solid victory Tuesday at the Brisbane International tennis tournament but world No. 2 Maria Sharapova withdrew from the event.

Williams, No. 3 in the world, lost only three games win her first-round match and followed that with a 6-2, 6-2 romp in the second round over Alize Cornet in about an hour.

Williams won 78 percent of the points on serve and didn't face a break point.

Sharapova cited a shoulder injury in withdrawing. She pulled out of an exhibition last month for the same injury, and her availability for the Australian Open later this month is unknown.

Daniela Hantuchova outlasted fifth-seeded Sara Errani 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 over a 2 1/2-hour, second-round match. There were a total of nine breaks in the 12-game third set, with Hantuchova winning more than 60 percent of the points off Errani's serve in the set.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also advanced with a tight 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 6-seeded Petra Kvitova. Pavlyuchenkova won two more points (71-69) over the course of the match.

Qualifier Ksenia Pervak won a third-set tiebreaker in beating Urszula Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).

Ferrer, Gasquet open 2013 with Doha wins

DOHA, Qatar, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain and No. 2 Richard Gasquet of France began their 2013 seasons with first-round wins Tuesday at the Qatar Open.

Ferrer, the world No. 5, overcame some rustiness and managed to post a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over German qualifier Dustin Brown.

He'll next play Germany's Tobias Kamke, who whipped Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 6-2 in another first-round match.

World No 10, Gasquet, meanwhile, dispatched Czech qualifier Jan Hernych in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex.

He now goes on to face Slovenia's Grega Zemlja, who earlier doused Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Also Tuesday, fourth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny pulled out his 400th ATP Tour match win with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 triumph over Germany's Benjamin Becker, while Frenchman Gael Monfils -- last year's runner-up -- bested Qatari wild card Mousa Shanan Zayed 6-0, 6-3.

Not doing as well was fifth-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who was bounced by German qualifier Daniel Brands 6-4, 6-4.

Another mild upset came when eighth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Andujar was done in by Czech Lukas Rosol 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).

Slovak Lukas Lacko and Egyptian Mohamed Safwat also posted first-round wins on Day 2.

Paire advances, Lu bounced at Chennai

CHENNAI, India, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- France's fifth-seeded Benoit Paire reached the second round with a victory but No. 7 seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan was bounced Tuesday at the Chennai Open.

Paire moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Italian Flavio Cipolla at SDAT Tennis Stadium, but the news wasn't as good for Lu, who fell 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Germany's Matthias Bachinger.

Two Indian crowd favorites also posted first-round wins at the season-opening event.

They included wild card Somdev Devvarman, who bested Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3, and qualifier Prakash Amritraj, who got past Frenchman Guillaume Rufin 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3.

Other Day 2 winners at Chennai included Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, Israeli Dudi Sela, Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut and German qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.