Djokovic withdraws from China Open
BEIJING, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, citing a back injury, has withdrawn from next week's China Open tennis tournament.
Djokovic said the back problem came up during the U.S. Open, which he ended up winning but often appeared to be in pain.
He retired from a Davis Cup semifinal match the following week, a decision that sealed Djokovic's Serbian team elimination by Argentina.
Djokovic is a two-time China Open defending champion. He took over the world No. 1 ranking after he defeated Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon finals. Djokovic also beat Nadal in the U.S. Open final.
He is 64-3 this year with 10 tournament titles, including a win at the Australian Open to go with his Wimbledon and U.S. Open major tournament championships.
The China Open begins Monday.
Young tops Garcia-Lopez in Thailand
BANGKOK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Donald Young ousted defending champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez during second-round play Thursday at the PTT Thailand Open tennis tournament.
Young claimed a 6-1, 6-7 (0-7), 7-5 victory over the fourth-seeded Garcia-Lopez in a match that took move the 2 1/2 hours. Garcia-Lopez fired nine aces and didn't commit a double fault but had his serve broken five times, including twice in the third set.
No. 1-seeded Andy Murray had little trouble dispatching Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-2. Their match took just 70 minutes with Murray winning 75 percent of the points on serve saving both break points created by Berrer.
Gail Monfils, the No. 2 seed, needed a third set to advance to the quarterfinals. He defeated Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Monfils lost two points over his three third-set service games.
Qualifier Go Soeda beat Tobias Kamke 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) and Grigor Dimitrov took a 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 decision from Simone Bolelli in Thursday's other matches.
Friday's quarterfinals schedule calls for Murray to take on Dimitrov and third-seeded Gilles Simon to battle Matthias Bachinger in the top half of the bracket. The other matches are Soeda versus Young and Monfils against Jarkko Nieminen.
The Thailand Open title, to be decided Sunday, is worth $107,000.
Four lead at Alfred Dunhill Links
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Michael Hoey had an eagle 2 on his final hole Thursday to join a first-place tie at the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
Hoey's 2 at the par-4 18th at St. Andrew's Old Course moved him to 6-under-par 66 and into a tie with Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Markus Brier and Louis Oosthuizen.
The tournament is split over three courses -- the Old Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Carnoustie -- for the first three days. The final round is contested at St. Andrews.
Hoey and Brier played St. Andrews Thursday while Cabrera-Bello and Oosthuizen were on Kingsbarns. Marc Warren, one of six players tied at 5-under, had the day's low round at Carnoustie. Two-time defending champion Martin Kaymer is among the 11 players at 4-under.
Hoey opened his round with two birdies and made the turn at 4-under. He had back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 11-12 but answered with back-to-back birdies on the next two holes. The eagle at 18 got him a share of the lead.
Brier had eight birdies only to have a double-bogey 6 at No. 16 pull him back.
Cabrera-Bello got going with an eagle 3 at Kingsbarns' third hole. He added six birdies against one bogey before a bogey at the 18th hole dropped him into the tie for first.
Oosthuizen was 6-under before his long bogey of the day came at the 17th hole. A birdie at 18 put him in the lead.
Pittsburgh to name street for Chuck Noll
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A street in the North Shore area of Pittsburgh will be named for former Steelers coach Chuck Noll who took the team to four Super Bowl wins, officials said.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Steelers organization said Chuck Noll Way would run from North Shore Drive to General Robinson Street in the stadium complex, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday.
Members of the Rooney family and former Steelers Mel Blount and Andy Russell are expected to attend a ceremony Friday to honor Noll, who has more Super Wins than any NFL coach in history and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Noll, 79, retired as the Steelers coach in 1991 with a record of 209 wins and 156 losses.
Other streets in the North Shore stadium complex are named for former Pirates great Bill Mazeroski, late Steelers owner Art Rooney and former University of Pittsburgh running back Tony Dorsett, the Post-Gazette said.
