NHL, union meet, more sessions to follow
NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The NHL and representatives of locked-out players met face-to-face for the first time in more than two weeks Sunday, with more negotiations to follow.
League officials and the NHL Players Association met for about 2 1/2 hours Sunday at NHL headquarters in New York for "informational sessions" following a round of conference calls Saturday, NHL.com reported.
Afterward, the NHLPA began holding internal meetings on the league's latest proposal in hopes of ending the 3 1/2-month lockout and avoiding a total cancellation of the 2012-13 NHL season, the website said.
The two sides are expected to meet again Monday, it reported.
The NHL offered a proposal last week that included some concessions on buyout rules, contract term limits and salary variance.
In it, the league set a Jan. 11 deadline to reach a new labor deal, after which the remainder of the season would be canceled. It envisions a one week training camp with the first games set for Jan. 19.
Spanish golfer Jimenez breaks right leg
MALAGA, Spain, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Spanish European Tour golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez said Sunday he suffered a broken leg while skiing and will need up to five months to recover.
The soon-to-be 49-year-old Jimenez said in a statement issued to The Irish Times he was skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in southern Spain when he broke the tibia of his right leg, later undergoing a successful operation in his hometown of Malaga.
"I was skiing in Sierra Nevada, I lost control and fell," Jimenez said. "I felt a huge stab of pain and I knew straight away I had broken something. I broke the top of the tibia in my right leg, just where it meets the knee, and they put in two pins.
"It will take three, four or five months to recover and be able to return to competition."
The injury will likely force the four-time Ryder Cup performer to miss most of the first half of the upcoming 2013 season.
Jimenez last year became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he took the Hong Kong Open at 48 years and 318 days, besting the mark held by Ireland's Des Smyth, the newspaper said.
S. Williams opens new season with victory
BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Serena Williams showed few signs of rust after toe surgery, cruising to a first-round win in the season-opening Brisbane International in Australia Sunday.
The third-seeded Williams underwent a procedure on her big toes this month, forcing her to withdraw from a Thailand exhibition, but she managed to dispatch Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 6-1 to begin the WTA season.
The American star and WTA Player of the Year is coming off an outstanding 2012, during which she won Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the London Olympics and the season-ending Championships.
Also at the Queensland Tennis Center Sunday, No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova downed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-4 and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova outlasted Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Other Day 1 winners included 2012 runner-up Daniela Hantuchova, Jarmila Gajdosova and Urszula Radwanska.
Peterson misses record but carries Vikings into playoffs
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Minnesota's Adrian Peterson amassed 199 rushing yards and scored twice Sunday, helping boost the Vikings into the playoffs with a 37-34 win over Green Bay.
Peterson carried the ball a career-high 34 times and finished the season with an NFL-best 2,097 yards -- just 9 yards shy of Eric Dickerson's all-time, single-season record.
His run of 26 yards to the Green Bay 11-yard line with 3 seconds remaining set up a game-winning field goal by Blair Walsh, which hoisted Minnesota (10-6) into the NFC's sixth and final post-season seed.
The Vikings' fourth straight victory, coupled with the Packers' loss, set up a rematch between the two teams in next week's wild card round.
Christian Ponder fired three touchdown passes en route to 234 yards on 16-of-28 efficiency as the Vikings completed a remarkable turnaround following their 3-13 performance of 2011.
The Packers (11-5) fell despite Aaron Rodgers' four-touchdown game, in which he threw for 365 yards on 28-of-40 passing.
Greg Jennings led Green Bay's receiving corps with eight grabs for 120 yards and two scores.
